Ionospheric models are of prime interest for applications like satellite based navigation and a near real time forecasting of grid based ionospheric delays. The physical processes that govern lowlatitude ionospheric variability are, at large, known, however, there remains a certain degree of uncertainty in many variables that are not measurable in each longitude sector on day-to-day basis like thermospheric neutral winds and drifts, diffusion and conductivity distribution etc. To study the day-to-day and seasonal variation of peak electron density and TEC in lowlatitude we used a physics based model, SAMI2, for three years 2001, 2005 and 2009 representing respectively the peak, moderate and lowest levels of solar activity in past solar cycle, besides for some geomagnetic storms. The model is run for Indian longitude sector under various controlled conditions like meridional winds and equatorial ExB drifts. The diurnal and seasonal variations of various quantities have been obtained as 2D meridional cross-section of ionosphere. There is a renewed interest in the variable nature of relation between time of maximization of equatorial ionization anomaly in terms of electron density (and TEC) and the time of maximization of ExB drift over equator. A dramatic variation is found in the time-lag between the maximization of ExB drift over equator and peak density occurrence in lowlatitudes (even in case of zero meridional winds). We found that single linear relation neither exists for any season nor for any year during any epoch of solar cycle. Specifically, equinoctial months exhibit greater day-to-day variability than other seasons, the reasons to be still quantified. Simulations for geomagnetic storms were separately performed. TECobservations show a direct response to penetration electric fields. The model results under disturbed ExB conditions show that the imminent enhancements in lowlatitudeTEC are result of enhanced density due to mechanical up-lifting of F

The present study investigates variation of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) in the lowlatitude Indian sub-continental region from the GPS observations and its comparison with the global ionosphere maps (GIMs), standard international reference ionosphere (IRI 2012), and the standard plasmasphere-ionosphere model (SPIM) for the period from November 2011 to October 2012 that corresponds to the progressive phase towards the midst of the solar cycle-24. Observations during quiet period show diurnal maximum of TEC occurring around 14:00-16:00 IST, with relatively broader and longer duration of local maximum at Bangalore and behave reversely towards Delhi. The secondary maximum of TEC was markedly noticeable at Bangalore during the months of March and September, and only in the month of September at Hyderabad and Mumbai. However, the relatively higher TEC during December month than the June is ascribed to the winter anomaly which is more prevalent during the high solar activity periods. The prevailing instability in latitudes of anomaly crest during January 2012 is possibly due to the seasonal variation of lunar tidal effects, modulating the EEJ strength at the equator. The studies covered the period of a strong geomagnetic storm during 6-11 March 2012 (SYM-H: -149 nT) which resulted in positive deviation of GPS-TEC at Bangalore (↑ 20%), Hyderabad (↑ 22%), and Lucknow (↑ 94%) compared to the mean quiet days level. The relatively large deviation of TEC at Lucknow could be attributed to the poleward shifting of the anomaly crest, manifested by enhanced fountain effect at the equator. Studies confirm excellent agreement (80-85%) of GPS-TEC with IGS-GIM at Bangalore and Hyderabad with the exception of the night-time hours (Deviations >50%). However relatively larger deviation of GPS-TEC from GIM-TEC at Delhi could be due to the unavailability of IGS stations in the proximity of the position. Predictions of the SPIM model (extension of IRI up to GPS

Some spurious effects affecting radio communications happen when the X-ray solar flux in the interplanetary medium reaches values above a certain threshold. The magnitudes of these effects depend on the X-ray peak brightness and the duration, which drive the intensity of the ionosphere response when the associated electromagnetic wave hit the sunlit side of the Earth atmosphere. An important aspect defining the severity of damages to HF radio communications and LF navigation signals in a certain area is the local time when each event takes place. In order to improve the understanding of radio signal loss or degradation in the Brazilian sector due to solar X-ray emissions, we analyze total electron content (TEC) maps and curves at selected sites obtained by a GPS network formed by tents of dual-frequency receivers spread all over Brazilian territory. We observe ionospheric local changes during several X-ray events in the 0.1-0.8 nm range identified by GOES satellite. Considering the duration, peak brightness, and local time of the events, our goal is to understand the degree of changes suffered by the ionosphere after these solar X-ray emissions using GPS receivers, namely in the equatorial region and around the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly.

Investigation of ionospheric variability is essential for improving the daily ionospheric modeling and forecasting services of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications. As India is a low-latitude region, more care has to be taken here to characterize the ionosphere due to irregularities and Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) conditions. Therefore, an appropriate method is required to diagnose the ionospheric variations during geomagnetic, solar and other disturbances. In this paper, the temporal ionospheric time delay variations were studied based on the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis and wavelet transforms (WT).These analyses were carried out with Total Electron Content (TEC) datasets obtained from three GNSS stations located in low-latitude regions. EOF analysis was performed on the TEC datasets, which were decomposed into a time series of orthogonal eigen values (or base functions) and associated coefficients. EOF base functions and their associated coefficients signify the hourly time variations and the day of the year variations. The results reveal that the first few EOFs represented the majority of TEC variability pertaining to the physical processes of the ionosphere. The accuracy of the EOF model was validated by the evaluation of observationalTEC data with International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2012 models. The EOF model coefficients for each GNSS station showed a strong correlation with the IRI models and also described the correlation between the impacts of the level of geomagnetic activity on the ionosphere. The correlation coefficients for the first three EOFs were more than 0.95. The phase relationship of ionospheric TEC anomalies, with respect to the geomagnetic indices (Dst), were analyzed by wavelet transforms.

In this study we analyzed the impacts on the GNSS-derived Total Electron Content (TEC) of four selected CME hitting the Earth during the year 2013 at different stations of middle and lowlatitudes (Ebre, Rabat, Alexandria, San Fernando, M'barara, Matera and Dakar). In order to analyzed the seasonal behavior of TEC under these disturbed conditions in the mentioned stations we have selected four CME events occurred during the different seasons (January 19, March 17, July 9 and October 2) of year 2013, at a maximum of the sunspot cycle 24. At the beginning of each event there is an increase of TEC followed by a decrease. The first increase of TEC is a consequence of the Prompt Penetration of the Electric Field (PPEF). The depletion of the TEC is associated to the Disturbance Dynamo Electric Field (DDEF). In order to interpret the observations we analyzed the convection patterns at high latitudes given by the radar SUPERDARN. At lowlatitudes, we derived the ionospheric electric current disturbance Diono from ground magnetic variations. Diono is the sum of the DP2 (PPEF) and Ddyn (DDEF) electric current systems. Finally we found that the strength of the impact at middle and lowlatitudes depends on the time of the impact of the CME and the season.

Total Electron Content (TEC) perturbations are manifestations of ionospheric irregularities which induce fluctuations in the amplitude and phase of trans-ionospheric radio signals. TEC data derived from Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers at Mbarara (Geogra. -0.60°N, 30.74°E and Geomag. -10.22°N, 102.36°E) and Entebbe (Geogra. 0.04°N, 32.44°E and Geomag. -9.53°N, 104.10°E) from 2009 to 2013 were used to study TEC perturbations over the lowlatitude region of Uganda. The results show that the frequency of occurrence of TEC perturbations of >4 TECU increased steadily from 2009 to 2013. TEC perturbations with amplitude <4 TECU occurred at all times. The likelihood of TEC perturbations exceeding 6 TECU was higher during the equinoxes than during the solstices in most of the years. Comparison of TEC perturbations with 10.7 cm solar radio flux (F10.7) data showed a weak positive correlation with this solar proxy. Wavelet analysis performed on the TEC perturbations revealed wave-like oscillations with periods typical of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TID). These wave-like structures (WLS) dominated from 13:00 to 19:00 LT for most of the years analyzed. Though the WLS were observed to increase with solar activity, no seasonal pattern was recorded in their occurrence.

A numerical model of total electron content (TEC) at lowlatitudes has been constructed from the Faraday rotation data recorded at a number of locations in India during the period Oct. 1975-July 1976 when the geostationary satellite ATS-6 was located at 35 deg E. In all, 36 coefficients for each season are required to represent the model. The model can be used for satellite tracking systems in estimating quickly the range, range rate and angular refraction errors. The present model is an improvement over the previously constructed model based on orbiting satellite data.

Results pertaining to the response of the lowlatitude ionosphere to a major geomagnetic storm that occurred on 24 August 2005 are presented. The dual frequency GPS data have been analyzed to retrieve vertical total electron content at two Indian lowlatitude stations (IGS stations) Hyderabad (Geographic latitude 17°20‧N, Geographic longitude 78°30‧E, Geomagnetic latitude 8.65°N) and Bangalore (Geographic latitude 12°58‧N, Geographic longitude 77°33‧E, Geomagnetic latitude 4.58°N). These results show variation of GPS derived total electron content (TEC) due to geomagnetic storm effect, local lowlatitude electrodynamics response to penetration of high latitude convection electric field and effect of modified fountain effect on GPS-TEC in lowlatitude zone.

Total electron content (TEC) has been continuously monitored since January 1997, using a GPS dual frequency receiver located at Presidente Prudente (22o 07'S, 51o 22' W). In this paper the enhancements observed in the ionspheric TEC are associated with geomagnetic field variations for six geomagnetic storms that occurred from 1997 to 2000. The events were selected according to the integrity and availability of data. The purpose of this study is to provide a better knowledge of the low-latitude behavior of TEC in association to geomagnetic storms. Quiet-time TEC values were obtained by the average of the five magnetically less disturbed days of the month. These values were subtracted from the TEC hourly averages measured during the period of the magnetic storms. Magnetic field intensity measured on the ground was used for the identification of the storm time variations and the Dst indices were also included as a reference for the latitudes considered. The results showed that moderate geomagnetic storms produce small effects in TEC, intense and super intense (Dst < ~150 nT) geomagnetic storms produce well defined and long lasting TEC enhancements. The super intense storms cause the GPS signals to loose their track and the corresponding TEC values cannot be derived.

The deterministic chaotic behaviour of ionosphere, over Indian subcontinent falling under equatorial/lowlatitude region, -0.3 to 22.19°N (geomagnetic), was studied using GPS-TEC time series. The values of Lyapunov exponent are low at Thiruvananthapuram and Agatti (-0.30 and 2.38°N, geomagnetic, respectively), and thereafter increase through Bangalore and Hyderabad (4.14 and 8.54°N, geomagnetic, respectively), and attain maximum at Mumbai (10.09°N, geomagnetic), which is near/at the edge of an anomaly crest. The values of correlation dimension computed for TEC time series are in the range 3.1-3.6, which indicate that equatorial/lowlatitude ionosphere can be described with four variables. Entropy values estimated for TEC time series show no appreciable latitudinal variabilites. The values of non-linear prediction error exhibit a trough, around the latitude sector, 4.14-16.15°N (Geomagnetic). Based on the values of the above quantifiers, the features of chaotic behaviour of equatorial/lowlatitude ionosphere are briefly discussed.

The ionospheric total electron content (TEC) in the low-latitude Singapore region (geographic latitude 01.37° N, longitude, 103.67° E, geomagnetic latitude 8.5° S) for 2010 to 2011 was retrieved using the data from global positioning system (GPS)-based measurements. The observedTEC from GPS is compared with those derived from the latest International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)-2012 model with three options, IRI-Nequick (IRI-Neq), IRI-2001, and IRI-01-Corr, for topside electron density. The results showed that the IRI-Neq and IRI-01-Corr models are in good agreement with GPS-TEC values at all times, in all seasons, for the year 2010. For the year 2011, these two models showed agreement at all times with GPS-TEC only for the summer season, and for the period 11:00 to 24:00 UT hours (19:00 to 24:00 LT and 00:00 to 08:00 LT) during the winter and equinox seasons. The IRI-2012 model electron density profile showed agreement with constellation observing system for meteorology, ionosphere, and climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO)-based measurements around 250 to 300 km and was found to be independent of the options for topside density profiles. However, above 300 km, the IRI-2012 model electron density profile does not show agreement with COSMIC measurements. The observations (COSMIC and GPS) and IRI-2012-based data of TEC and electron density profiles were also analyzed during quiet and storm periods. The analysis showed that the IRI model does not represent the impact of storms, while observations show the impact of storms on the low-latitude ionosphere. This suggests that significant improvements in the IRI model are required for estimating behavior during storms, particularly in low-latitude regions.

Ionospheric storms represent large global disturbances of the ionospheric F-region electron density in response to geomagnetic storms. This study investigates the ionospheric response during a minor geomagnetic storm that occurred on 13-15 September 2004. In particular, we use total electron content (TEC) measurements (rate of TEC change, ROT) to examine the presence of ionospheric irregularities over four low-latitude stations in the African sector, a region that has been less studied. Ionospheric irregularities are known to cause fading and phase fluctuation of L-band radio navigation signals such as those used by the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and are a common feature in the equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere. In the present study, the storm began with a sudden commencement at approximately 20:00 UT on 13 September, while the peak of the main phase occurred on 14 September with an SYM-H index value around -59 nT. On 13 September, the storm did not appear to hinder the development of irregularities as they were observed over all the stations. In contrast, irregularities were rarely observed at two of the 4 stations under study and were absent over the other two stations on 14 September. The DSMP F15 satellite post-sunset flight over the African region observed deep density depletions on 13 September that can be associated with the presence of ionospheric plasma bubble irregularities. Furthermore, an analysis of ΔH (horizontal geomagnetic component corrected for ring current effects) shows that there was a strong positive ΔH perturbation observed in the post-sunset hours on 13 September, which suggests the presence of an eastward penetration electric field, while a negative perturbation of ΔH, which is associated with the equatorial counter-electrojet, was observed on 14 September.

The equatorial ionosphere is characterized by (i) large values of total electron content (TEC) and sharp latitudinal gradients of TEC, (ii) steep temporal variation of TEC, (iii) large diurnal variation of TEC, and (iv) postsunset secondary enhancement of TEC. These features cause major limitations in the accuracy of standard ionospheric TEC models in this region. Three artificial neural-network (ANN) based models have been developed based on real-time low-latitudeTEC data along 77°E, 88°E, and 121°E longitudes in the region between the magnetic equator and locations beyond the northern crest of equatorial ionization anomaly to predict the vertical TEC values. ANN models have shown more accurate predictions than other standard ionospheric TEC models like International Reference Ionosphere, Parameterized Ionospheric Model, and NeQuick. The effects of the neutral wind in the variation of TEC are significant and have been incorporated as inputs to these ANN models. The outputs with neutral wind incorporated shows better correspondence with measured TEC than the models without neutral wind inputs. The longitudinally separated models have been used to find any longitudinal differences in TEC along equatorial regions. The causes behind the longitudinal differences in TEC and its diurnal variations in these regions have been explained in terms of the geomagnetic declination and inclination angles along with the role of zonal wind.

Understanding the global-, meso- and small-scale structure of the ionosphere. We need more observations to reallly test whether we have correctly captured not only the physics but the parameterizations of the sub-grid scale processes in the upper atmosphere. In this talk we present results from APL UV experiments that enable us to characterize TEC on a global basis. In addition, we can determine the topside scale height, peak density and altitude of the peak. In the auroral region we obtain maps of the E-region parameters (HmE, NmE) and conductivity profiles. Global UV remote sensing of the ionosphere, especially tomographic imaging, is a technique that is now readily implemented on even small spacecraft. The sensors are small, compact and flexible. In this talk we will show results of our extended climatology of the characteristics of the mid- and low-latitude ionosphere. In particular, we have completed converting our extensive GUVI database into 3D "datacubes" of low-latitude F-region ionospheric profiles. These 3D profiles, besides giving you the familiar electron density profiles (including topside scale height) also exhibit the action of the ExB drift as the separation of the arcs and the influence of the meridional component of the neutral wind as the hemispheric assymetry and the influence of lower atmosphere forcing in the longitudinal amplitude of the ionosphere.

Following previous works from Molchanov et al 2002a 2002b 2004a 2004b and Hobara et al 2005 data bases dedicated to the systematic analysis of the power and spectral indices of the electric field have been elaborated Two data bases are considered one for the survey mode and the other for the burst mode For the survey mode estimations of the turbulence parameters are performed from the 8 first Fourier components of the averaged power spectra 0-150 Hz frequency band A single slope power law model f - alpha is assumed A quality factor allows to test that hypothesis For the burst mode the power spectra are derived from the waveforms One and two slope models are systematically tested Results are presented and the possibility to use these data bases for correlation with seismic activity is discussed Y Hobara F Lefeuvre M Parrot and O A Molchanov Low-latitude ionospheric turbulence observed by Aureol-3 satellite Annales Geophysicae 23 1259--1270 2005 Molchanov O A Hayakawa M Afonin V V Akentieva O A and Mareev E A Possible influence of seismicity by gravity waves on ionospheric equatorial anomaly from data of IK-24 satellite 1 Search for idea of seismo-ionosphere coupling Seismo Electromagnetics Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling edited by Hayakawa M and Molchanov O A TERRAPUB Tokyo 275--285 2002a Molchanov O A Hayakawa M Afonin V V Akentieva O A Mareev E A and Trakhtengerts V Yu Possible influence of seismicity by gravity waves on ionospheric

HF (5.5 MHz) Doppler radar observations of nonspread F and spread F echoes over Visakhapatnam (17.7°N, 83.3°E; dip 20°) are presented. The echoes appearing suddenly and nearly simultaneously in 16 successive range bins at 7.5 km intervals in association with spread F have been investigated. Two to five episodes of spread F activity were found to appear at intervals of 1-2 hours during individual nights. At the time of onset of spread F conditions, the Doppler velocity for each range bin changed rapidly from a negative maximum to a positive maximum followed by a gradual decrease to a steady ±10-15 m/s or to a large negative velocity and then again to a large positive. At the time of small constant velocity or velocity change from negative to positive, the spread F echoes were weak or even below the detection level of the radar. This disappearance in the higher ranges causes the decrease in range extent of spread F echoes. The positive and negative maximum velocities of spread F were in the range of +70 to -60 m/s. The maximum upward and downward velocity is not the same in all events of spread F activity. The width of the Doppler velocity spectrum for spread F echoes was found to vary with velocity. For zero velocity the width was a minimum of 50 m/s in contrast to 25 m/s for nonspread F events. These features were consistently observed for all spread F incidences. The observed results are compared with already reported HF/VHF observations and are discussed in the light of equatorial plasma dynamics during the growth phase of Rayleigh Taylor instability leading the incidence of spread F.

With the increasing application of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) products and services, knowledge of the Total Electron Content (TEC) variation is vital, particularly in historically under-sampled regions. The ionospheric induced-error, which is the largest and most variable error source of GNSS applications, is proportional to TEC along the satellite-receiver path. Simultaneous Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements from six African equatorial and lowlatitude stations in the southern hemisphere are used to investigate the latitudinal variation of TEC over the region during the year 2013, a year of moderate solar activity. The analysis reveals some detailed features of seasonal, month-to-month and solar activity dependence of TEC. The seasonal variation of TEC revealed that the daytime and the pre-midnight values of TEC for stations located close to the geographic equator is considerably higher in equinoxes and June solstice compared to stations farther from the equator, however, the difference is insignificant during the December solstice. The month-to-month variation of TEC shows semi-annual symmetry/asymmetry in TEC values for stations closer/farther from the equator. TEC sensitivity to solar activity shows significant seasonal and latitudinal characteristics. Generally, a relatively good correlation exists between TEC and F10.7 for stations around the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) region compared to those found at stations close to the equator. Beyond the EIA region, the correlation coefficients drop in all seasons. TEC predicted by the three topside options of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2012 model [i.e. the NeQuick (NeQ), IRI-2001 Corrected (IRI-01 Corr) and the IRI-2001 (IRI-01) options] exhibits latitudinal and seasonal characteristics. The NeQ option performed better than the other two options at stations located within the equatorial region in most of the months and seasons. Outside the EIA region, the IRI-01 Corr

The paper is based on the ionospheric variations in terms of vertical total electron content (VTEC) for the low solar activity period from May 2007 to April 2009 based on the analysis of dual frequency signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites recorded at ground stations Varanasi (Geographic latitude 25°16' N, Longitude 82°59' E), situated near the equatorial ionization anomaly crest and other two International GNSS Service (IGS) stations Hyderabad (Geographic latitude 17°20' N, longitude 78°30' E) and Bangalore (Geographic latitude 12°58' N, longitude 77°33' E) in India. We describe the diurnal and seasonal variations of total electron content (TEC), and the effects of a space weather related event i.e. a geomagnetic storm on TEC. The mean diurnal variation during different seasons is brought out. It is found that TEC at all the three stations is maximum during equinoctial months (March, April, September and October), and minimum during the winter months (November, December, January and February), while obtaining intermediate values during summer months (May, June, July and August). TEC shows a semi-annual variation. TEC variation during geomagnetic quiet as well as disturbed days of each month and hence for each season from May 2007 to April 2008 at Varanasi is examined and is found to be more during disturbed period compared to that in the quiet period. Monthly, seasonal and annual variability of GPS-TEC has been compared with those derived from International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)-2007 with three different options of topside electron density, NeQuick, IRI01-corr and IRI 2001. A good agreement is found between the GPS-TEC and IRI model TEC at all the three stations.

Color images of six low-latitude auroral events observed using color digital cameras at Nayoro (142.5° E, 44.4° N), Hokkaido, Japan, from 2001 to 2004, were analyzed to determine the events' locations and times of occurrence. Geographical azimuthal and elevation angles of the images' pixels were determined precisely by using the positions of the stars captured in the images. Horizontal regions covered by these auroral events were directly indicated by mapping the color images onto geographical maps and assuming that the emission layer's altitude is the lowest or highest value of a visible-level red aurora, as determined by the OI 630.0nm emission. The estimated geomagnetic latitudes and L values of these low-latitude auroral events were in the 39-50° range and below L < 2.5, respectively. This investigation indicates that four of the six auroral events were the same as those that were reported previously based on high-sensitivity optical observations at other sites on Hokkaido (Rikubetsu and Moshiri). Although the previous study is lacking information about the maximal brightness level of the red auroral events, the present investigation suggests that these four low-latitude auroral events reached the visible level. In addition, two new events were reported in this study. The present work provides essential information such as the morphology and appearance of visible auroras, which are extremely rare in mid- or low-latitude regions.

This paper presents the performance of the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2012) model in estimating the Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) variation over equatorial and lowlatitude East Africa regions during the period of 2012-2013. This has been conducted by comparing the ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) VTEC inferred from nine dual frequency GPS receivers installed at different regions in the continent. In this work, the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variation in the measured VTEC have been analyzed and compared with the VTEC obtained from IRI-2012 model. It is depicted that the lowest diurnal peaks of the modeled and measured VTEC values are observed in the June solstice months, whereas the highest values are observed in the equinoctial months. The variability of the diurnal GPS-VTEC is also found to be minimal nearly at 03:00 UT and maximal mostly between 09:00 and 14:00 UT. Moreover, the maximum and minimum monthly mean hourly measured VTEC values inferred from both the Arba Minch and Entebbe stations are observed in October and July, respectively. Similarly, the highest and the lowest seasonal mean hourly measured VTEC values are observed in the September equinox and in the June solstice, respectively. The model predictions generally follow the diurnal variations of the measured VTEC, with minimum value at predawn hours and maximum at noontime hours (10:00-13:00 UT). It has been shown that the model better estimates the diurnal VTEC values mostly just after midnight hours (00:00-03:00 UT). Good agreements between the modeled and measured monthly and seasonal mean hourly VTEC values obtained from Arba Minch station are also observed in the equinoctial months. But, for the Entebbe station, the modeled monthly and seasonal VTEC values are larger than the corresponding measured VTEC values by about 75% and 60%, respectively. In addition, there are large discrepancies observed between the diurnal measured and modeled

The present study demonstrates the ionospheric response to the extreme geomagnetic storms during 29-31 Oct 2003 (the Halloween storm), in the lowlatitude anomaly Indian region, based on multi-instrument measurements namely magnetometer, ionosonde, and GPS observations. Unlike earlier reports, we have suitably chosen the best quiet days (CQ-Days) amongst 10 international quiet days (Q-Days), on the basis of equatorial electrojet strength and pattern, that drives the distribution of plasma over the lowlatitude. We stress that arbitrarily selecting the Control/Q-Days may lead to erroneous interpretations and will not yield a clearer understanding of the equatorial electrodynamics. Our analysis confirms the anomalous increase in TEC at all stations on 29 Oct 2003 and suppressed TEC across anomaly crest latitudes during 30-31 Oct 2003. The sharp transition in h'F is noticed during the progressive period of the storm, though it was relatively lower at the equator. The respective foF2 remained subordinate at Trivandrum. However, we did not notice such foF2 changes at Delhi. Observations at various latitudes confirm the maximum positive deviation of TEC at mid-latitude POL2 (140 %), followed by the lowlatitude Jodhpur (108 %), and the rest of the stations showing relatively lower enhancements with deviations ranging between 60-90 %. However, at Ahmedabad, the lowest divergence from the mean CQ-Days, attribute the typical quiet day formation of crest at this latitude. Although the results are well agreeing with earlier reports, miniature differences is noticeable due to our way of choosing the best reference days in the analysis.

The preliminary results are presented of the measurement of the energy spectrum of low energy (5-24 MeV) albedo electrons, moving upward as well as downwards, at about 37 km (-4 mb) altitude, over Hyderabad, India, in lowlatitude region. The flux and energy spectrum was observed by a bi-directional, multidetector charged particle telescope which was flown in a high altitude balloon on 8th December 1984. Results based on a quick look data acquisition and analysis system are presented here.

ISEE 1 electron spectrometer observations are used to study the electron distribution function in the lowlatitude boundary layer (LLBL) of the magnetosphere in the sunward direction. The study included 43 examples of well-defined layers. Using three-dimensional, model-independent distribution functions of electrons observed in the boundary layer, beams of field-aligned electrons with typically 100 eV energy maximums, streaming in either one, or both, directions have been identified. The phase densities in the LLBL and at lower altitudes are similar, and the beams observed in the LLBL are identified with those observed at lower altitudes. They form an important component of the plasma electrons in the LLBL, which otherwise resembles a mixture of magnetosheath-like and magnetospheric electrons.

Low-latitude Pi2 pulsations in the topside ionosphere are investigated using vector magnetic field measurements from LEO satellite, CHAMP, and underneath ground station. Substorm-associated Pi2s are initially identified using high-resolution data from Indian station Shillong, during 2007-2009, and are further classified into three subgroups of Pi2 band (6-25 mHz), based on its frequency. During nighttime, coherent in-phase oscillations are observed in the compressional component at satellite and horizontal component at underneath ground station for all the Pi2 events, irrespective of the Pi2 frequency. We observe that the identification of daytime Pi2s at CHAMP (compressional component) depends on the frequency of Pi2 oscillation; i.e., 40%, 45%, and 100% of Pi2 events observed in dayside ground station with frequency between 6-10 mHz, 10-15 mHz, and 15-25 mHz were identified at satellite, respectively. At CHAMP during daytime, the presence of a dominant power in the lower frequencies of Pi2 band, which is unique to satellite, is consistently observed and can modify the Pi2 oscillations. Pi2s having frequency >15 mHz are less affected by these background frequencies, and a clear signature of daytime Pi2s at CHAMP is possible to observe, provided that contribution from non-Pi2 frequencies at satellite from the lower end of Pi2 band is eliminated. Daytime Pi2s identified in the topside ionosphere showed coherent but mostly opposite phase oscillations with underneath ground station, and satellite-to-ground amplitude ratio is, in general, found to be less than 1. Present results indicate that a combination of fast cavity-mode oscillations and an instantaneous transmission of Pi2 electric field from high- to low-latitude ionosphere is responsible for the observation of daytime Pi2s.

A detailed analysis of the VLF/ELF wave data obtained during a whistler campaign under All India Coordinated Program of Ionosphere Thermosphere Studies (AICPITS) at our lowlatitude Indian ground station Jammu (geomag. lat. = 22° 26‧ N, L = 1.17) has yielded two types of unusual and unique whistler-triggered VLF/ELF emissions. These include (1) whistler-triggered hook emissions and (2) whistler-triggered long enduring discrete chorus riser emissions in VLF/ELF frequency range during night time. Such types of whistler-triggered emissions have not been reported earlier from any of the ground observations at lowlatitudes. In the present study, the observed characteristics of these emissions are described and interpreted. Dispersion analysis of these emissions show that the whistlers as well as emissions have propagated along a higher geomagnetic field line path with L-values lying ∼L = 4, suggesting that these triggered emissions are to be regarded as mid-latitude emissions. These waves could have propagated along the geomagnetic field lines either in a ducted mode or in a pro-longitudinal (PL) mode. The measured intensity of the triggered emissions is almost equal to that of the source waves and does not vary throughout the period of observation on that day. It is speculated that these emissions may have been generated through a process of resonant interaction of the whistler waves with energetic electrons. Parameters related to this interaction are computed for different values of L and wave amplitude. The proposed mechanism explains some aspects of the dynamic spectra.

The flux and the energy spectrum of low energy (30-100 MeV) proton albedos, have been observed for the first time in a lowlatitude region, over Hyderabad, India. The preliminary results, based on the quick look data acquisition and display system are presented. A charged particle telescope, capable of distinguishing singly charged particles such as electrons, muons, protons in low energy region, records the data of both upward as well as downward moving particles. Thus spectra of splash and re-entrant albedo protons have been recorded simultaneously in a high altitude Balloon flight carried out on 8th December, 1985, over Hyderabad, India. Balloon floated at an latitude of approx. 37 km (4 mb).

Due to the unique geometry of the geomagnetic fields near the magnetic equator and low-latitude regions, the satellite communication system in the African sector is strongly influenced by the effects resulting from the accumulation of electrons in their ionosphere. Hence, this paper investigates the patterns of the vertical total electron content (VTEC) variation detected by the Global Positioning System (GPS) over low-latitude regions during a very low (2008 to 2009) and a high solar activity (2012 to 2013) phases. The study has been carried out by considering eight ground-based dual-frequency GPS receivers installed recently at different regions in Ethiopia. In this work, the diurnal, monthly, and seasonal variations in the GPS-VTEC have been analyzed. It has been found that the diurnal variability of VTEC has shown minimum values at around 0300 UT (0600 local time (LT)) and maximum values nearly between 1000 and 1300 UT (1300 and 1600 LT) during both the low and the high activity phases. Moreover, the maximum and minimum of monthly mean hourly VTEC values are observed in October and July, respectively, during both the low (2009) and the high solar activity (2012) phases. It has also been depicted that seasonal mean hourly VTEC values have shown maxima and minima in the March equinox and the June solstice, respectively, during both the low and the high solar activity phases.

Previous studies have shown that the ionospheric "strong range spread F" (SSF) closely correlates with the occurrence of scintillations caused by equatorial plasma bubbles. However, there is no report on concurrent observations of SSF and bubbles with in situ measurement. This paper discusses two cases of concurrent observations with a DPS4 Digisonde and a collocated scintillation monitor at the low-latitude station Hainan (19.5°N, 109.1°E), and with in situ ion density measurements made by the ROCSAT-1 satellite. Two case studies were made for 10 and 23 April 2004, respectively. In both cases, the SSF occurred before midnight and lasted more than 3.5 h. The scintillations were accompanied with strong range SF. Concurrently, the ROCSAT-1 satellite observed plasma bubbles over Hainan station. In the first case, two bubbles were observed by the satellite with east-west sizes of more than ~200 km over Hainan station. Two bubbles were also observed in the second case with east-west extensions of about 220 km and 35 km, respectively. For the first time, direct observational evidence is provided for the causal relationship between equatorial plasma bubbles with in situ measurement and the concurrent occurrence of SSF and strong scintillations.

Plasma density structures are frequently encountered in the nighttime low-latitude ionosphere by probes on the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite. Of particular interest to us here are plasma density enhancements, which are typically observed +/- 15 deg away from the magnetic equator. The low inclination of the C/NOFS satellite offers an unprecedented opportunity to examine these structures and their associated electric fields and plasma velocities, including their field-aligned components, along an east-west trajectory. Among other observations, the data reveal a clear asymmetry in the velocity structure within and around these density enhancements. Previous observations have shown that the peak change in drift velocity associated with a density enhancement occurs simultaneously both perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field, while the 1results in this paper show that the peak change in parallel fl ow typically occurs 25-100 km to the east of the peak perpendicular ow. We discuss this and other aspects of the observations in relation to the characteristics of the plasma depletions formed near the magnetic equator detected by the same probes on the C/NOFS satellite and to previous observations and theories.

We have begun an investigation of the nature of the low-latitude boundary layer in the mid-altitude cusp region using data from the Polar spacecraft. This region has been routinely sampled for about three months each year for the periods 1999-2001 and 2004-2006. The low-to-mid-energy ion instruments frequently observed dense, magnetosheath-like plasma deep (in terms of distance from the magnetopause and in invariant latitude) in the magnetosphere. One such case, taken during a period of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), shows magnetosheath ions within the magnetosphere with velocity distributions resulting from two separate merging sites along the same field lines. Cold ionospheric ions were also observed counterstreaming along the field lines, evidence that these field lines were closed. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that double merging can produce closed field lines populated by solar wind plasma. Through the use of individual cases such as this and statistical studies of a broader database we seek to understand the morphology of the LLBL as it projects from the sub-solar region into the cusp. We will present preliminary results of our ongoing study.

5.5 MHz HF Doppler radar observations of Sporadic E over an Indian lowlatitude station, Visakhapatnam (17.7° N, 83.3° E and Dip 20°) with 10 s resolution showed quasi-periodic variations of the echo strength and Doppler velocity variations with periods of a few minutes to a few tens of minutes. The echo strength and Doppler velocity variations with time in different range bins of the ES echo showed variations which are some times similar and some times significantly different in successive range bins at intervals of 7.5 km. The ES echo occurs with the height of maximum echo strength in the range of 100 km to 120 km and some times at 130 km. The altitude variation of the average Doppler velocity is highly variable and the height of maximum echo strength is not the same as the height of maximum Doppler velocity. Observations of ES echoes at different times of the day are presented to bring out the differences between the day and night time ES echoes. The relationship between Radar and ES parameters derived from Ionograms is poorer than that of mid latitudes which is quite consistent with the expectations based on gradient drift instability.

The impact of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) on the power networks at middle and lowlatitudes has attracted attention in recent years with the increase of large-scale power networks. In this study, we report the GIC monitored at two low-latitude 500 kV substations of China during the large storm of 17 March 2015. The GIC due to the storm sudden commencement (SSC) was much higher than that during the storm main phase. This phenomenon is more likely to happen at low-latitude locations, highlighting the importance of SSC in inducing GIC in low-latitude power networks. Furthermore, we ran a global MHD model to simulate the GIC during this SSC event by using the solar wind observation as input. The model results reproduced the main features of the GIC. The study also indicated that the eastward component of the geoelectric field is dominant for low-latitude locations during the SSC events. Further, topology and electrical parameters of the power grids make significant differences in the GIC levels.

We use a comprehensive analysis of 6-component ELF wave data from the DEMETER satellite to study proton whistlers, placing emphasis on low-latitude events originating from lightning strokes in the hemisphere opposite to the hemisphere of observation. In this case, the formation of proton whistlers does not involve mode conversion caused by a strong mode coupling at a crossover frequency, although a polarization reversal remains an important element in formation of the phenomenon. DEMETER measurements of the six electromagnetic field components in the frequency band below 1000 Hz make it possible to determine not only the dynamic spectrum, but also the wave polarization, the wave normal angle, and the normalized parallel component of the Poynting vector. This permits us to address fine features of proton whistlers, in particular, we show that the deviation of the upper cutoff frequency from the equatorial cyclotron frequency is related to the Doppler shift. Experimental study of proton whistlers is supplemented by an investigation of ion cyclotron wave propagation in a multicomponent magnetoplasma and by numerical modeling of spectrograms, both in the frame of geometrical optics.

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the Schumann resonance (SR) parameters observed at lowlatitude stations in China for the first time. Variations of SR peak frequency and intensity on different timescales (from minutes to years) are analyzed in detail. Diurnal and seasonal variations are shown and the source-observer distance is calculated to confirm the contributions of lightning activity. Differences in the profiles of SR intensity between the NS and EW components are due to the effects of the source-observer distance and the relative position of the observer to the sources. Diurnal frequency variations are more complicated and cannot be directly linked with the three thunderstorm centers. Seasonal variations are clear for intensity but not for frequency. The differences in the diurnal and seasonal variations between the SR intensity and frequency show that the greatest contributor to SR intensity is global lightning activity, while the SR frequency is not affected solely by lightning, as certain other factors involving ionosphere properties may play non-negligible roles. We also emphasize that our observations do not show a distinct day-night change in the SR parameters, and that the SR intensity does not show abrupt changes across terminators. This observation is consistent with previous simulations. Finally, the response of the SR to a solar flare is discussed. The flare leads to a sudden increase of about 0.2 Hz relative to the 2σ level of the SR frequencies in the first three modes, which is in agreement with other works in the literature. This frequency enhancement is explained using theoretical calculations.

The phenomenon of the pre-earthquake ionospheric disturbances is discussed. A number of typical TEC (Total Electron Content) relative disturbances is presented for several recent strong earthquakes occurred in different ionospheric conditions. Stable typical TEC deviations from quiet background state are observed few days before the strong seismic events in the vicinity of the earthquake epicenter and treated as ionospheric earthquake precursors. They don't move away from the source in contrast to the disturbances related with geomagnetic activity. Sunlit ionosphere approach leads to reduction of the disturbances up to their full disappearance, and effects regenerate at night. The TEC disturbances often observed in the magnetically conjugated areas as well. At lowlatitudes they accompany with equatorial anomaly modifications. The hypothesis about the electromagnetic channel of the pre-earthquake ionospheric disturbances' creation is discussed. The lithosphere and ionosphere are coupled by the vertical external electric currents as a result of ionization of the near-Earth air layer and vertical transport of the charged particles through the atmosphere over the fault. The external electric current densities exceeding the regular fair-weather electric currents by several orders are required to produce stable long-living seismogenic electric fields such as observed by onboard measurements of the 'Intercosmos-Bulgaria 1300' satellite over the seismic active zones. The numerical calculation results using the Upper Atmosphere Model demonstrate the ability of the external electric currents with the densities of 10-8-10-9 A/m2 to produce such electric fields. The sumulations reproduce the basic features of typical pre-earthquake TEC relative disturbances. It is shown that the plasma ExB drift under the action of the seismogenic electric field leads to the changes of the F2 region electron number density and TEC. The upward drift velocity component enhances NmF2 and TEC and

Observations from MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)'s Magnetometer and Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer instruments during the first orbital year have resulted in the identification of 25 magnetopause crossings in Mercury's magnetosphere with significant low-latitude boundary layers (LLBLs). Of these crossings 72% are observed dawnside and 65% for northward interplanetary magnetic field. The estimated LLBL thickness is 450 ± 56 km and increases with distance to noon. The Na+ group ion is sporadically present in 14 of the boundary layers, with an observed average number density of 22 ± 11% of the proton density. Furthermore, the average Na+ group gyroradii in the layers is 220 ± 34 km, the same order of magnitude as the LLBL thickness. Magnetic shear, plasma β and reconnection rates have been estimated for the LLBL crossings and compared to those of a control group (non-LLBL) of 61 distinct magnetopause crossings which show signs of nearly no plasma inside the magnetopause. The results indicate that reconnection is significantly slower, or even suppressed, for the LLBL crossings compared to the non-LLBL cases. Possible processes that form or impact the LLBL are discussed. Protons injected through the cusp or flank may be important for the formation of the LLBL. Furthermore, the opposite asymmetry in the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) as compared to the LLBL rules out the KHI as a dominant formation mechanism. However, the KHI and LLBL could be related to each other, either by the impact of sodium ions gyrating across the magnetopause or by the LLBL preventing the growth of KH waves on the dawnside.

Observations from MESSENGER's MAG and FIPS instruments during the first orbital year have resulted in the identification of 25 magnetopause crossings in Mercury's magnetosphere with significant low-latitude boundary layers (LLBLs). The large majority of these crossings are observed on the dawnside and for northward interplanetary magnetic field. The estimated LLBL thickness is 450±56 km, and increases with distance to noon. The Na+-group ion is sporadically present in 14 of the boundary layers, with an observed average number density of 22±11 % of the proton density. Furthermore, the average Na+-group gyroradii in the layers is 220±34 km, the same order of magnitude as the LLBL thickness. Magnetic shear, plasma β and reconnection rates have been estimated for the LLBL crossings, and compared to those of a control group (non-LLBL) of 61 distinct magnetopause crossings which show signs of nearly no plasma inside the magnetopause. The results indicate that reconnection is significantly slower, or even suppressed, for the LLBL crossings compared to the non-LLBL cases. Possible processes that form or impact the LLBL are discussed. Protons injected through the cusp or flank may be important for the formation of the LLBL. Furthermore, the opposite asymmetry in the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) as compared to the LLBL, rules out the KHI as a dominant formation mechanism. However, the KHI and LLBL could be related to each other, either by the impact of sodium ions gyrating across the magnetopause, or by the LLBL preventing the growth of KH waves on the dawnside.

A comparative study of intraseasonal oscillations (ISO) in the period range 20-110 days is carried out in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) zonal wind at two lowlatitude stations, Cariri (7.4°S, 36.5°W) and Cachoeira Paulista (22.7°S, 45°W) located far from the convective anomaly region. Considerable seasonal and interannual variability is observed. The ISO in the MLT and lower atmosphere are found to be well correlated during winter and spring indicating a coupling of the atmospheric regions through the ISO. On the other hand, relatively less correlation during summer and fall may suggest a dominance of the in situ excitation of the ISO in the MLT relative to the lower atmospheric contribution. The correlation between the MLT and lower atmosphere is found to be a little higher at Cachoeira Paulista than Cariri. The ISO in the MLT shows good correlation between the two stations, but correlation is insignificant in the case of lower atmosphere. The ISO is most prominent in the upper troposphere, upper stratosphere and MLT. The waves responsible for communicating the ISO signature from the troposphere to the middle atmosphere in the tropics are believed to refract through mid-latitudes in course of their propagation. An evident height variation of the high amplitude ISO in the upper troposphere is observed with a clear annual oscillation at Cariri. The observed behaviors of the ISO at the present sites are discussed in the light of plausible physical mechanisms.

Navigation and communication, Department of Defense and civilian, customers rely on accurate, low-latitude specification of ionospheric parameters, globally, that are not currently realistic on a day-to-day basis. This paper describes, demonstrates, and speculates about the data sets that are required inputs to the operational ionospheric models that will correct these deficiencies. In order to investigate quiet time, vertical E × B drift velocities at two different longitude sectors, magnetometer observations were obtained for the period between January 2001 and December 2004 from the magnetometers at Jicamarca (0.8°N dip latitude) and Piura (6.8°N dip latitude) in Peru and from Davao (1.4°S dip latitude) and Muntinlupa (6.3°N dip latitude) in the Philippine sector. We choose only geomagnetically "quiet" days, when the 3-hourly Kp value never exceeds a value of 3 over the entire day, and when the daily Ap value is less than 10. These are "binned" into three seasons, December solstice, equinox, and June solstice periods. A neural network trained for the Peruvian sector was applied to each of the days in both the Peruvian and Philippine sectors, providing ΔH-inferred vertical E × B drift velocities between 0700 and 1700 local time. For each season, the average E × B drift velocity curves are compared with the Fejer-Scherliess, climatological E × B drift velocity curves in both the Peruvian and Philippine sectors. In the Peruvian sector, the comparisons are excellent, and in the Philippine sector they are very good. We demonstrate that realistic magnetometer-inferred E × B drifts can be obtained in the Peruvian sector on a day-to-day basis and speculate that on the basis of the average, quiet day comparisons, realistic E × B drifts can be obtained on quiet days in the Philippine sector.

Variability of Total Electron Content (TEC) in the equatorial anomaly region of the ionosphere can be studied extensively using the results of measurements taken by the NASA/CNES satellite, TOPEX/Poseidon. The NASA radar altimeter (NRA) is the first space-borne dual-frequency altimeter capable of accurately measuring vertical ionospheric TEC below 1,340 km. TOPEX TECobservations have already been used to support results from an ionospheric measurement campaign that was conducted in equatorial anomaly regions of South America by Phillips Laboratory in Spring, 1994. The best agreement in TEC values is seen during intervals of longitudinal proximity of the satellites` paths. The TOPEX over-ocean data can be used as a supplement to land based measurements in applications to ionospheric research at low and middle latitudes. This study focuses on comparisons between TOPEX vertical TEC data and GPS equivalent vertical TEC measurements taken near the East and West coastal regions of South America. Also the Phillips Laboratory Global Parameterized Ionospheric Model (PIM) is utilized in an effort to estimate slant to vertical conversion errors.

The recent solar minimum period was unusually deep and prolonged, which opened a window to observe the ionospheric behavior under unprecedented low solar activity conditions. This work is part of a multi-instrumental effort to investigate the equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere over Brazilian sector during low solar activity. We present a study of the ionospheric plasma densities variations through ionosondes measurements and dual frequency GPS receivers (L1= 1275.4 MHz, L2 = 1227.6 MHz) for two equatorial stations, Sao Luis (3° S, 45º W) e Fortaleza (4° S, 39.5° W), and for a station close to the south crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly region, Cachoeira Paulista (23º S, 45º W). From ionosondes we extract the plasma critical frequency foF2 which is related to F2 region peak electron density, NmF2, by the relationship: NmF2 = 1.24 x 104 (foF2)2, and the F2 layer peak height, hmF2. From GPS receivers we used the quantity VTEC (Vertical total electron content). We analyzed the seasonal and local time variations of NmF2 and VTEC, as well as the differences between two solar minima, 2008-2009 and 1996. We observe that the ionospheric plasma densities were lower in 2008-2009 than in 1996 for both regions. In addition, we observe that the lowest plasma densities persisted longer during 2008/2009 than in 1996, especially for nighttime periods. Finally, we applied the wavelet technique to investigate the impact of some distinct time scales drivers on the ionosphere, such as the wave activity from below that seems have been better observed and appreciated during this unusual solar quiescence.

TEC values gathered with several networks of GPS receivers, which operated in South and Central America and the Caribbean region between 2010 and 2013, have been used to investigate the characteristics and morphology of TEC depletions that develop at these locations. In South America the TEC depletions are associated with low-latitude plasma bubbles. In Central America and the Caribbean region, we found that TEC depletions that occur during magnetically active conditions (Kp > 5o), persist for very long periods and sometimes remain even during afternoon hours. During quiet magnetic conditions, TEC depletions occur around the June solstice in Central America and during the December solstice in the Southern part of South America. We have also studied possible links between mid-latitude depletions and the formation of plasma bubbles at lowlatitudes. In addition, TEC measurements from North America have been utilized to determine the poleward extension of the mid-latitude depletions. These depletions do not appear to be related to auroral plasma processes or to storm enhanced densities (SED). We are studying the possibility that their initiation process is associated with the disturbance dynamo or the prompt penetrating electric field that develop during storm conditions.

Ionospheric observations made with ionosondes of the type CADI at S a o Jos e dos Campos 23 2 o S 45 9 o W dip latitude 17 6 o S and at Palmas 10 2 S 48 2 W dip latitude 5 7 S Brazil under conditions of high and low solar activity are presented and compared with ionospheric results obtained from a realistic fully time-dependent Low-Latitude Ionosphere Model denominated LION model which simulates the dynamic behavior of the low-latitude ionosphere In the LION model the time evolution and spatial distribution of the ionospheric particle densities and velocities are computed by numerically solving the time-dependent coupled nonlinear system of continuity and momentum equations for the ions O O 2 NO N 2 and N taking into account photoionization of the atmospheric species by the solar extreme ultraviolet radiation chemical and ionic production and loss reactions and plasma transport processes including the ionospheric effects of thermospheric neutral winds plasma diffusion and electromagnetic E x B plasma drift The Earth s magnetic field is represented by a tilted centered magnetic dipole This set of coupled nonlinear equations is solved along a given magnetic field line in a frame of reference moving vertically in the magnetic meridian plane with the electromagnetic plasma drift velocity The model results reproduce adequately the main characteristics and dynamic behavior of the low-latitude ionosphere under quiet

In this paper, we present for the first time planetary-scale wave signatures in the low-latitude E region field-aligned irregularities (FAI) observed during June 2004 to May 2005 using the Gadanki mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar. We have observed a clear signature of 5-8 day variability in echo occurrence, in SNR, and also in Doppler velocity observed above 100 km. Concurrent temperature observations made using the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) on board the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetic and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite have also clearly shown the presence of 5-8 day variability similar to that of FAI. The temperature variations have been characterized with zonal wave numbers of 3 and 4 and vertical wavelength of 15-20 km. These waves are found to have increasing amplitude with increasing height and phase progressing downward, suggesting that they were of lower atmospheric origin. It is emphasized that the planetary-scale characteristics of neutral atmosphere in the FAI observations are important in understanding the vertical coupling of the low-latitude ionosphere-atmosphere system. These observations and the pertinent issues are discussed in the light of current understanding of the planetary-scale role on the FAI variability.

The objective of this study is to understand better the propagation of Pi 2 waves in the nighttime region. We examined Pi 2 oscillations that showed high correlation between high- and low-latitude Magnetic Data Acquisition System/Circum Pan-Pacific Magnetometer Network stations (correlation coefficient: ∣γ∣ ≥ 0.75). For each horizontal component (H and D) we examined the magnetic local time (MLT) dependence of the delay time of high-latitude Pi 2 oscillations that corresponds to the highest correlation with the low-latitude Pi 2 oscillation. We found the delay time of the high-latitude H showed remarkable MLT dependence, especially in the premidnight sector: we found that in the premidnight sector the high-latitude H oscillation tends to delay from the low-latitude oscillation (<100 s). On the other hand, the delay time of the high-latitude D oscillation was not significant (˜±10 s) in the entire nighttime sector. We propose a Pi 2 propagation model to explain the observed delay time of high-correlation high-latitude H. The model quantitatively explains the trend of the event distribution. We also examined the spatial distribution of high-correlation Pi 2 events relative to the center of auroral breakups. It was found that the high-correlation Pi 2 events tend to occur away from the center of auroral breakups by more than 1.5 MLT. The present result suggests that the high-correlation H component Pi 2 oscillations at high latitude are a manifestation of forced Alfvén waves excited by fast magnetosonic waves.

The GOLD Mission of Opportunity will provide answers to key elements of an overarching question for Heliophysics science: what is the global-scale response of the thermosphere and ionosphere to forcing in the integrated Sun-Earth system? GOLD will perform remote-sensing measurements of the Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere, using an ultraviolet imager on board a commercial, geosynchronous satellite. The resulting measurements of the electron densities in the nighttime ionosphere as well as the neutral composition and temperature in the thermosphere, when combined with current modeling capabilities, will advance our understanding of Thermosphere-Ionosphere (T-I) forcing. GOLD will provide the first global- scale "snapshot" of temperature that can be compared with the coincident "snapshot" of composition changes to understand how these two major parameters simultaneously react to the various forcing mechanisms. GOLD will continue observing the same longitudes from the daytime into the night allowing the relationship between presunset conditions in the T-I system and the longitudinal dependence of variations in the ionosphere to be separated. One question that GOLD will address is: do vertical ion drifts, as manifested in the structure of the equatorial anomaly, affect the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities? Solar and geomagnetic forcing produces variations in the structure of the equatorial ionosphere at night (equatorial anomaly) and the occurrence of irregularities within the ionosphere. These ionospheric density variations, with scale sizes ranging from hundreds to tens of km, have profound effects on systems using radio frequencies. Irregularities at lowlatitudes are produced in the post-sunset ionosphere by the Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability. The growth of these R-T instabilities into large-scale plasma bubbles has an optical signature and is the greatest source of ionospheric irregularities at lowlatitudes. Simulations of GOLD observations indicate

The Earth's plasma mantle is one of the major suppliers of particles for the plasma sheet. To understand its plasma characteristics, spatial distributions, and dependencies on interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction, we statistically analyzed the Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) observations in the low-latitude magnetotail (~10 RE above and below the current sheet) and investigated the predictions from global Block Adaptive Tree Solar wind-Roe-Upwind Scheme MHD simulations. The mantle plasma flows tailward along magnetic field lines (~50-200 km/s) and at the same time drifts toward midnight and toward the current sheet. The mantle plasma has similar temperature (~0.05-0.2 keV) to the magnetosheath plasma but has lower density (~0.1-1 cm-3). The mantle appearance is dawn-dusk asymmetric depending mainly on the IMF By direction. The occurrence rates, density, and V|| all decrease with decreasing |Y|. This density cross-tail profile suggests that the low-latitude mantle plasma mainly comes from the magnetosheath entering through the tail magnetopause along the open field lines. Density is highly and positively correlated with V||. These observations are qualitatively consistent with the MHD results. The simulations indicate that as IMF By becomes dominant, the source locations at the magnetopause for the mantle move to lower latitudes and become dawn-dusk asymmetric, and the tail cross section also becomes distorted with the magnetopause shape elongating and the current sheet tilting significantly. Degrees of these changes also vary with the downtail distances and IMF Bz direction. The source location change leads to the dawn-dusk asymmetric mantle appearance. The tail cross-section change alters the distance from the sources to the current sheet and thus the resulting mantle density distributions just outside the plasma sheet.

This is the first paper that reports simultaneous observations of zonal drift of plasma bubbles and the thermospheric neutral winds at geomagnetically conjugate points in both hemispheres. The plasma bubbles were observed in the 630 nm nighttime airglow images taken by using highly sensitive all-sky airglow imagers at Kototabang, Indonesia (geomagnetic latitude (MLAT): 10.0°S), and Chiang Mai, Thailand (MLAT: 8.9°N), which are nearly geomagnetically conjugate stations, for 7 h from 13 to 20 UT (from 20 to 03 LT) on 5 April 2011. The bubbles continuously propagated eastward with velocities of 100-125 m/s. The 630 nm images at Chiang Mai and those mapped to the conjugate point of Kototabang fit very well, which indicates that the observed plasma bubbles were geomagnetically connected. The eastward thermospheric neutral winds measured by two Fabry-Perot interferometers were 70-130 m/s at Kototabang and 50-90 m/s at Chiang Mai. We compared the observed plasma bubble drift velocity with the velocity calculated from the observed neutral winds and the model conductivity, to investigate the F region dynamo contribution to the bubble drift velocity. The estimated drift velocities were 60-90% of the observed velocities of the plasma bubbles, suggesting that most of the plasma bubble velocity can be explained by the F region dynamo effect.

We present the first quasiperiodic (QP) echoes from 3-m E region field-aligned irregularities observed in the Southamerican sector, just outside the magnetic equator (7.5°N geomagnetic). These QP echoes occur only at night and between 105 and 120 km. In general, Piura QP echoes present periods close to the Brunt-Väisälä period (5 to 10 min), striations with positive slopes and altitude rates of 20-25 m s-1 (upward/northward), striations spacings of 3 to 10 km, and downward/southward Doppler velocities. These results are compared to midlatitude QP echoes from 3- and 6-m irregularities observed between 13.3°N and 46.7°N geomagnetic. We found that the general characteristics that are common to our observations and other QP observations are the nighttime occurrence and the periods close to the Brunt-Väisälä period. On the other hand, the discrepancies with some of the QP echoes observed at mid-latitudes are found in the slope and spacing of the striations, the mean phase velocities, and the mean altitude location of the E layer containing the striations.

We report a unique type of ULF waves observed by low-altitude Space Technology 5 (ST-5) constellation mission. ST-5 is a three micro-satellite constellation deployed into a 300 x 4500 km, dawn-dusk, and sun synchronous polar orbit with 105.6 inclination angle. Due to the Earth's rotation and the dipole tilt effect, the spacecraft's dawn-dusk orbit track can reach as low as sub auroral latitudes during the course of a day. Whenever the spacecraft traverse across the dayside closed field line region at sub auroral latitudes, they frequently observe strong transverse oscillations at 30-200 mHz, or in the Pc 2-3 frequency range. These Pc 2-3 waves appear as wave packets with durations in the order of 5-10 minutes. As the maximum separations of the ST-5 spacecraft are in the order of 10 minutes, the three ST -5 satellites often observe very similar wave packets, implying these wave oscillations occur in a localized region. The coordinated ground-based magnetic observations at the spacecraft footprints, however, do not see waves in the Pc 2-3 band; instead, the waves appear to be the common Pc 4-5 waves associated with field line resonances. We suggest that these unique Pc 2-3 waves seen by ST-5 are in fact the Doppler-shifted Pc 4-5 waves as a result of rapid traverse of the spacecraft across the resonant field lines azimuthally at low altitudes. The observations with the unique spacecraft dawn-disk orbits at proper altitudes and magnetic latitudes reveal the azimuthal characteristics of field-aligned resonances.

We report a unique type of ULF waves observed by low-altitude Space Technology 5 (ST-5) constellation mission. ST-5 is a three micro-satellite constellation deployed into a 300 x 4500 km, dawn-dusk, and sun synchronous polar orbit with 105.6deg inclination angle. Due to the Earth s rotation and the dipole tilt effect, the spacecraft s dawn-dusk orbit track can reach as low as subauroral latitudes during the course of a day. Whenever the spacecraft traverse across the dayside closed field line region at subauroral latitudes, they frequently observe strong transverse oscillations at 30-200 mHz, or in the Pc 2-3 frequency range. These Pc 2-3 waves appear as wave packets with durations in the order of 5-10 minutes. As the maximum separations of the ST-5 spacecraft are in the order of 10 minutes, the three ST-5 satellites often observe very similar wave packets, implying these wave oscillations occur in a localized region. The coordinated ground-based magnetic observations at the spacecraft footprints, however, do not see waves in the Pc 2-3 band; instead, the waves appear to be the common Pc 4-5 waves associated with field line resonances. We suggest that these unique Pc 2-3 waves seen by ST-5 are in fact the Doppler-shifted Pc 4-5 waves as a result of rapid traverse of the spacecraft across the resonant field lines azimuthally at low altitudes. The observations with the unique spacecraft dawn-disk orbits at proper altitudes and magnetic latitudes reveal the azimuthal characteristics of field-aligned resonances.

We report a unique type of ULF waves observed by low-altitude Space Technology 5 (ST-5) constellation mission. ST-5 is a three micro-satellite constellation deployed into a 300 x 4500 km, dawn-dusk, and sun synchronous polar orbit with 105.6 degree inclination angle. Due to the Earth's rotation and the dipole tilt effect, the spacecraft's dawn-dusk orbit track can reach as low as subauroral latitudes during the course of a day. Whenever the spacecraft traverse across the dayside closed field line region at sub auroral latitudes, they frequently observe strong transverse oscillations at 30-200 mHz, or in the Pc 2-3 frequency range. These Pc 2-3 waves appear as wave packets with durations in the order of 5-10 minutes. As the maximum separations of the ST-5 spacecraft are in the order of 10 minutes, the three ST-5 satellites often observe very similar wave packets, implying these wave oscillations occur in a localized region. The coordinated ground-based magnetic observations at the spacecraft footprints, however, do not see waves in the Pc 2-3 band; instead, the waves appear to be the common Pc 4-5 waves associated with field line resonances. We suggest that these unique Pc 2-3 waves seen by ST-5 are in fact the Doppler-shifted Pc 4-5 waves as a result of rapid traverse of the spacecraft across the resonant field lines azimuthally at low altitudes. The observations with the unique spacecraft dawn-disk orbits at proper altitudes and magnetic latitudes reveal the azimuthal characteristics of field-aligned resonances.

We report a unique type of ULF waves observed by low-altitude Space Technology 5 (ST-5) constellation mission. ST-5 is a three micro-satellite constellation deployed into a 300 x 4500 km, dawn-dusk, and sun synchronous polar orbit with 105.6deg inclination angle. Due to the Earth s rotation and the dipole tilt effect, the spacecraft s dawn-dusk orbit track can reach as low as subauroral latitudes during the course of a day. Whenever the spacecraft traverse across the dayside closed field line region at subauroral latitudes, they frequently observe strong transverse oscillations at 30-200 mHz, or in the Pc 2-3 frequency range. These Pc 2-3 waves appear as wave packets with durations in the order of 5-10 minutes. As the maximum separations of the ST-5 spacecraft are in the order of 10 minutes, the three ST-5 satellites often observe very similar wave packets, implying these wave oscillations occur in a localized region. The coordinated ground-based magnetic observations at the spacecraft footprints, however, do not see waves in the Pc 2-3 band; instead, the waves appear to be the common Pc 4-5 waves associated with field line resonances. We suggest that this unique Pc 2-3 waves seen by ST-5 are in fact the Doppler-shifted Pc 4-5 waves as a result of rapid traverse of the spacecraft across the resonant field lines azimuthally at low altitudes. The observations with the unique spacecraft dawn-disk orbits at proper altitudes and magnetic latitudes reveal the azimuthal characteristics of field-aligned resonances.

The ionospheric plasma parameters (electron, ion temperatures and ion composition-Te, Ti, O+ and H+) measured by SROSS-C2 satellite at an average altitude of ~500 km has been investigated to study the behaviour of the ionosphere in equinoxes during half a solar cycle (year 1995-2000, F10.7 ~70-195). The region under study spans over 5-35°N geog. latitude and 65-95°E geog. longitude in the Indian sector. We found an equinoctial asymmetry in the diurnal behaviour of Te, Ti, O+ and H+ varying with increase in solar activity. The strength of equinoctial asymmetry in Te and Ti is strong during early morning and daytime and strength decreases with increase in solar activity whereas during night time no asymmetry/weaker is observed in low/high solar activity respectively. During the day time, a very strong equinoctial asymmetry in O+ is observed during solar minimum which diminishes with increase in solar activity. The similar diurnal behaviour of H+ as that of O+ is observed during low solar activity but no clear equinoctial asymmetry is observed during solar maximum, as H+ being highly dynamic. The transition height (O+/H+) is the lowest in early morning during solar minimum, which increases during local day-time. The rate of increase in transition height is different in both the equinoxes (higher in vernal than autumn) with respect to dependence on the solar activity, during daytime. Hence equinoctial asymmetry is stronger during solar minimum period than maximum, with higher/lower transition height in vernal during daytime/nighttime respectively.

Far ultraviolet observations of the Jovian disk were made at low and mid-latitudes with FUV MAMA/STIS on board HST in January 1999 both in the imaging and spectroscopic modes. An image was obtained with the Lyalpha filter in the hydrogen bulge region for comparison with the expected Lyman-alpha brightness distribution for Ly-alpha resonance scattering. Other images in the 1200-1700 { Angstroms} region show band structures parallel to the equator with fading contrast toward the center and the limb. Spectroscopic observations were made in the 1200-1700 { Angstroms} (G140L) and 1245-1298 { Angstroms} (G140M) regions at ~ 5 { Angstroms} resolution to map the H_2 airglow and the UV absorbents along the STIS slit. Preliminary results indicate that a C_2H_2 absorption signature is clearly observed in the solar ultraviolet reflected spectrum. The ethylene absorption may be mapped to derive variations of the acetylene abundance. The H_2 FUV airglow shows both the fluorescence and the electron impact components. Its spatial variation is described and compared with the expected airglow distribution. We acknowledge funding by NASA and by the PRODEX program of the European space agency.

In this paper, we present unique results of equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere response to one of the major geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle that occurred during 17-18 March 2015 where Dst reached its minimum of -228 nT. Here we utilized data from magnetometers, chain of ionosondes located at Tirunelveli (8.73°N, 77.70°E; geom: 0.320N), Hyderabad (17.360N, 78.470E; geom: 8.760N) and Allahabad (25.45°N, 81.85°E; geom: 16.50N) along with multi station GPS receivers over Indian sector. The observations showed a remarkable increase of h'F to as high as ~560 km over Tirunelveli (magnetic equator) with vertical drift of ~70 m/s at 13:30 UT due to direct penetration of storm time eastward electric fields which exactly coincided with the local time of Pre-Reversal Enhancement (PRE) and caused intense ESF irregularities in ionosondes and scintillations in GPS receivers at wide latitudes. Plasma irregularities are so intense that their signatures are seen in Allahabad/Lucknow. Stormtime thermospheric meridional winds as estimated using two ionosondes suggest the equatorward surge of gravity waves with period of ~2 hrs. Suppression of anomaly crest on the subsequent day of the storm suggests the complex role of disturbance dynamo electric fields and disturbance wind effects. Our results also show an interesting feature of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) possibly associated with disturbance meridional wind surge during recovery phase. In addition, noteworthy observations are nighttime westward zonal drifts and PRE related TEC enhancements at anomaly crests during main phase and CEJ signatures during recovery phase.

The atomic oxygen emission line at 6300 A, measured in the nadir direction by a photometer on the polar orbiting satellite OGO-4, was plotted between 40 deg N and 40 deg S latitude on a series of maps for the moon-free periods between 30 August 1967 and 10 January 1968 The longitudinal and local time variations which occur during the northern fall-winter season are indicated. The northern tropical arc is more widespread while the southern arc is not present at all longitudes. The conditions under which the observations were made are described, and four airglow maps were selected to show the local time variations.

Equatorial travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) are studied by using three CHAMP satellite overpasses on ground-based 630-nm airglow images. The airglow images are obtained from Kototabang (KTB), Indonesia (geographic coordinates: 0.2S, 100.3E, geomagnetic latitude: 10.6S). From 7-year data from October 2002 to October 2009, April 30, 2006 (event 1), September 28, 2006 (event 2) and April 12, 2004 (event 3) are the only TID events found in both ground and satellite measurements. They show southward-moving structures in 630-nm airglow images. The events 1 and 2 are single pulse with horizontal scales of ~500-1000 km and event 3 show three wave fronts with horizontal scale sizes of 500-700 km. For events 1 and 3, the neutral density in CHAMP shows out-of-phase variations with the airglow intensity, while event 2 is in-phase. For event 1, the relation between electron density and airglow intensity is out of phase, while relationships of event 2 and 3 are unclear. These unclear relationships suggest that ionospheric plasma variation is not the cause of the TIDs. In the case if gravity waves in the thermosphere is the source of the observed TIDs, in-phase and out-of-phase relationships of neutral density and airglow intensity can be explained by different vertical wavelengths of the gravity wave. We estimate possible vertical wavelengths for those events using observed wave parameters and modeled neutral winds.

The sporadic sodium layers (SSL) phenomena were studied with sodium (Na) lidar at Beijing (40. 5°N，116. 0°E) and Haikou (19.5°N, 109.1°E) in China. The main parameters of SSL and Es events were statistically analyzed at both observing sites. SSL occurrence has maximum near 22:00 LT, and Es occurrence has maximum before midnight. Comparison reveals that all the average values of height and strength factor of SSL and Es at Beijing are higher than those at Haikou, as well as the average of foEs. The correlation of SSL with Es is stronger at Haikou, and the formation of SSL is obviously influenced by seasonally varied chemical and dynamical processes.

Four years of magnetometer data from two locations in Peru, one at the equator and one off the equator, have been converted to electric fields and their frequency characteristics (fluctuation spectra) examined. In the frequency range from 0.1 to 30 cycles per hour, the average spectrum monotonically decreases. However, it deviates from a power law in the range 0.3 3 cycles per hour especially for high levels of activity. The integrated power above 0.15 cycles per hour is a strong function of K indicating that much of the fluctuations in the ionospheric equatorial field are of solar wind or magnetospheric origin. This result is in agreement with a previous power spectral study of low, middle, and high latitude fields using radars. The observed field strengths are lower than the ones observed in a previous study using balloon data at middle and high latitudes when the fields are projected to the equatorial plane. Simultaneous interplanetary electric field (IEF) data are compared to the equatorial field to determine how strong a relationship exists and to determine the amplitude and phase of their ratio as a function of frequency—an estimate of the average transfer function of the system. This function displays a bandpass-like form with a peak near 0.5 cycles per hour. This peak and evidence for a ringing of the time domain response suggests a weakly resonant system indicating some capacitance in addition to the inductance of the ring current and the resistance of the ionosphere. Case studies show that application of this function to IEF data yields good results and supports the notion that the response of the equatorial field to long-duration IEF polarities can last for many hours. Application of the function to test inputs such as pulses and triangle waves support this result. At high frequencies, we suggest that mapping of small-scale MHD turbulence is less effective than high frequency related transitions in the IEF.

The dominant feature in the global scale wind field in the lowlatitude mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region is the solar diurnal migrating tide, classically represented by the (1,1) Hough function. The meridional component of the horizontal neutral wind vector is relatively stable in this region making it possible to estimate the daily (1,1) amplitude and phase*. Observations of the MLT winds have been performed from satellite platforms by HRDI and WINDII (UARS) and by TIDI (TIMED) since September 1991 providing a unique and continuous global perspective of the classical (1,1) tide for nearly 15 years. This paper will describe new results from HRDI, WINDII, and TIDI of the daily and annual variation of the (1,1) tide. A long-term interannual variability is clear in the data sets with the amplitude of the (1,1) tide peaking near 100 m/s within a week of the March equinox in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2002, and 2004. Lesser peaks occur during intervening years as well as about two weeks following the September equinox. A secondary result that will be discussed is the correspondence between coincident (1,1) tide observations by different pairs of experiments (HRDI/WINDII) and (HRDI/TIDI). *Burrage, M. D., M. E. Hagan, W. R. Skinner, D. L. Wu, and P. B. Hays, Long-term variability in the solar diurnal tide observed by HRDI and simulated by the GSWM, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 2641, 1995.

Flux transfer events (FTE) have been postulated to result from transient magnetic merging. If so, the ion distributions within an event should exhibit features known to result from merging. Observations of a FTE by instruments on the Polar spacecraft revealed classical merging signatures that included: 1) D-shaped, accelerated, magnetosheath ion distributions, 2) a well defined de Hoffman-Teller frame, 3) local stress balance, and 4) a P-N magnetic field signature. This FTE was observed near the magnetic equator at approx. 13 MLT under conditions of a moderately northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) (clock angle of less than 10 deg). The nature of the ion distributions and the consistency of the measured cutoff speed with that calculated from the measured local magnetic field and the derived de Hoffman-Teller speed show the ion injection to be local. Coupled with the northward IMF these results lead to the conclusion that component merging in the lowlatitude region was responsible for the FTE.

On April 30 (day 120), 1985, the magnetosphere was compressed at 0923 UT and the subsolar magnetopause remained near 7 RE geocentric for approx. 2 hours, during which the four spacecraft Spacecraft Charging At High Altitude (SCATHA), GOES 5, GOES 6, and Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE) CCE were all in the magnetosphere on the morning side. SCATHA was in the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) in the second half of this period. The interplanetary magnetic field was inferred to be northward from the characteristics of precipitating particle fluxes as observed by the low-altitude satellite Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F7 and also from absence of substorms. The authors used magnetic field and particle data from this unique interval to study ULF waves in the LLBL and their relationship to magnetic pulsations in the magnetosphere. The LLBL was identified from the properties of particles, including bidirectional field-aligned electron beams at approx. 200 eV. In the boundary layer the magnetic field exhibited both a 5-10 min irregular compressional oscillation and a broadband (Delta(f)/f approx. 1) primarily transverse oscillations with a mean period of approx. 50 s and a left-hand sense of polarization about the mean field. The former can be observed by other satellites and is likely due to pressure variations in the solar wind, while the latter is likely due to a Kelvin-Helmoltz (K.-H.) instability occurring in the LLBL or on the magnetopause.

The C/NOFS satellite [de La Beaujardiere, 2004] has provided a vast archive of multi-sensor data on the low-latitude ionosphere/plasmasphere since 2008. As part of the project, the VEFI payload [Pfaff et al., 2010] has recorded the 3-D electric field from DC through 16 kHz with high fidelity. The relative calibrations track between the three E-field antennas with sufficient accuracy and stability to allow retrieval of the wave polarization for a wide range of lightning-generated whistler waves [Jacobson et al., 2014]. The wave polarization in turn allows retrieval of the wavevector (within a sign ambiguity), which in turn allows an inverse-raytrace of the whistler raypath from the satellite to the ionospheric entry point. We will compare the raytrace predictions with ground-truth from the WWLLN global lightning-monitoring system [Lay et al., 2004; Rodger et al., 2005; Rodger et al., 2004]. In addition to providing location and time of lightning strokes, WWLLN provides an estimate of the radiated radio energy in the whistler passband [Hutchins et al., 2012]. Finally, the CINDI payload [Heelis et al., 2009] on C/NOFS provides ion composition at the satellite, permitting the index of refraction to be inferred. We will compare these estimates to the Poynting fluence density observed by VEFI, thereby providing a direct test of the coupling of lightning radio energy into plasmaspheric whistlers.

We carried out high-cadence (5 min) and high-spatial resolution (2deg magnetic latitude) observations of daytime OI 630.0 nm airglow emission brightness from a low-latitude station to understand the behavior of neutral dynamics in the daytime. The results indicate that the wave periodicities of 12.20 min, and 2 h exist over a wide spatial range of around 8deg-12deg magnetic latitudes. The 20.80 min periodicities in the dayglow seem to appear more often in the measurements closer to the magnetic equator and not at latitudes farther away. Further, periodicities in that range are found to be frequent in the variations of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) strength as well. We show that wave periodicities due to the neutral dynamics, at least until around 8deg magnetic latitude, are influenced by those that affect the EEJ strength variation as well. Furthermore, the average daily OI 630.0 nm emission brightness over 3 months varied in consonance with that of the sunspot numbers indicating a strong solar influence on the magnitudes of dayglow emissions.

We carried out high-cadence (5 min) and high-spatial resolution (2deg magnetic latitude) observations of daytime OI 630.0 nm airglow emission brightness from a low-latitude station to understand the behavior of neutral dynamics in the daytime. The results indicate that the wave periodicities of 12.20 min, and 2 h exist over a wide spatial range of around 8deg-12deg magnetic latitudes. The 20.80 min periodicities in the dayglow seem to appear more often in the measurements closer to the magnetic equator and not at latitudes farther away. Further, periodicities in that range are found to be frequent in the variations of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) strength as well. We show that wave periodicities due to the neutral dynamics, at least until around 8deg magnetic latitude, are influenced by those that affect the EEJ strength variation as well. Furthermore, the average daily OI 630.0 nm emission brightness over 3 months varied in consonance with that of the sunspot numbers indicating a strong solar influence on the magnitudes of dayglow emissions.

Propagation of compressional Pi 2 pulsations near the equatorial plane is studied using the magnetic data from low-latitude MAGDAS ground stations and geosynchronous satellite ETS-VIII. We have investigated the correlation functions (as a function of the time lag ; R({τ }) ) of the initial 5 minutes interval of compressional Pi 2s between ETS-VIII (GMLat.=-10.8o, GMLon.=217.5o) and MAGDAS/KUJ (GMLat.=26.13o, GMLon.=202.96o) for the Pi 2 events identified from 1 March through 31 May 2009. We have found 86 events with high correlation function (|R({τ })|≥0.7). For 88% of the events, the Pi 2s at KUJ were delayed from Pi 2s at ETS-VIII; the average delay time was 44 sec. For 81% of the events, the Pi 2s at KUJ were positively correlated with the Pi 2s at ETS-VIII. The observational results of the delay time and its local time dependence are consistent with fast wave propagation from the source at 10RE and LT=22-24hr estimated by the MHD wave propagation model presented in textit{Uozumi et al.} [2009]. The present results suggest that the compressional Pi 2s observed at ETS-VIII and on the ground stations are propagating fast mode waves rather than standing fast mode waves.; The time derivatives of typical example of the Pi 2 event observed at separated local time. Upper side of each plot shows the data that are plotted with a time shift of the delay time. Lower side of each plot shows the data that are plotted with no time shift. The shift directions are indicated by the horizontal arrows, and the amount of the time shift is indicated on the arrows.

By revisiting two Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) vortex events under northward (Hasegawa et al, 2004) and southward (Yan et al, 2014) interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) observed by Cluster and THEMIS respectively, we investigated the ion density gradient at the dusk flank magnetopause with K-H vortices, by using the technique developed by Shen et al (2012) which can calculate the spatial gradient of a physical quantity even when only three-point simultaneous measurements are available or the tetrahedron is highly distorted. With three-point simultaneous observations, two components of the ion density gradient can be calculated in the vortex plane. In the results, we find that: (1) under either northward or southward IMF, cold dense plasma was found in the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) vortices even when the IMF was southward; (2) in both events, there existed an ion density gradient as large as 0.5 cm-3/Mm for southward IMF and 2.0 cm-3/Mm for southward IMF alongside with K-H vortices in the lowlatitude boundary layer (LLBL); (3) the dominant direction of the ion density gradient in the vortex plane pointed outward to the magnetopause when the gradient is defined as the increasing direction; (4) in both events, the ion density gradient has positive correlation with the vorticity calculated by the same technique. The ion density gradient driven by K-H vortices indicates that plasma diffusion plays an important role as the micro-physical process of plasma transport into the magnetosphere directly through the LLBL with K-H vortices.

Due to the unique geomagnetic field configuration, equatorial upper atmosphere of the earth is affected by various electro-dynamical processes, such as, equatorial electrojet (EEJ), equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), equatorial spread-F (ESF), equatorial temperature and wind anomaly (ETWA). Each of these processes leave their imprint on both the neutral and ionised components of the upper atmosphere. The plasma dynamics can be investigated by radio probing methods. Investigations on the neutral dynamics, however, are possible mainly through the optical measurements. As these phenomena spread over a large spatial extent, it is extremely important to measure their variability over a large field-of-view. Here, we present the results of the wave characteristics observed over a lowlatitude location, Hyderabad (Geographic: 17.5° N, 78.5° E; Geomagnetic: 8.6° N, 151.8° E), which were obtained using a high spectral-resolution multi-wavelength echelle-grating spectrograph. This instrument obtains oxygen dayglow emissions at 557.7 nm, 630.0 nm, and 777.4 nm wavelengths over a large field-of-view ( of about 140 degrees) that originate from peak altitudes of around 130 km, 230 km, and 300 km, respectively. Initial results from a total of 52 days of data reveal that the dominant wave periodicities in the intensities of these emissions are different for different emission heights. Significant latitudinal dependency is seen in case of 557.7 nm and 630.0 nm. The latitudinal behavior of the emissions show the influence of both the neutral dynamics and electrodynamics of the equatorial origin. The emission variabilities are compared with the empirical and physics based models to discern the dynamical component in them in order to understand the nature of the vertical coupling of atmospheric regions. These results will be presented in light of the electrodynamic effects on them.

The mantle plasma sometimes appears at lowlatitudes in the magnetotail and at times is mixed with the plasma sheet boundary layer plasma. Because of its density is substantially higher than the lobe plasma, the low-latitude mantle provides more particles into the tail plasma sheet than do the lobes. To investigate where and when the low-latitude mantle plasma appears, we have identified its appearance using the two ARTEMIS satellites from Oct 2010 to Dec 2012 in the magnetotail from X ~ -40 to -80 Re. The mantle plasma flows tailward along magnetic field lines with speed from ~50 to 200 km/s, and at the same time drift toward midnight and toward the equator. Its density is similar to that in the plasma sheet but its temperature is about an order of magnitude lower. Its occurrence rate can be up to 50% near the flanks and it decreases with decreasing |Y| to nearly 0% at midnight. The appearance shows a clear dawn-dusk asymmetry that depends on the IMF By direction. In the region above (below) the current sheet, it appears dominantly in the post-midnight (pre-midnight) sector when IMF By is positive (negative). The occurrence rates and the dawn-dusk asymmetries are similar for both northward and southward IMF conditions. The BATS-R-US simulations for N IMF show that the magnetopause reconnection locations and the magnetopause shape in the magnetotail change significantly with the IMF clock angles. As IMF By becomes positively larger, the magnetopause reconnection site above (below) the current sheet moves toward lower latitudes to the dawn (dusk) side. Also the magnetopause shape becomes flatter with the Z distance from the magnetopause to the current sheet becomes smaller. As a result, the plasma mantles move to lower latitudes and become closer to the plasma sheet, and the appearance of the mantle plasma becomes more dawn-dusk asymmetric.

The dynamic state of the ionosphere at lowlatitudes is largely controlled by electric fields originating from dynamo actions by atmospheric waves propagating from below and the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction from above. These electric fields cause structuring of the ionosphere in wide ranging spatial and temporal scales that impact on space-based communication and navigation systems constituting an important segment of our technology-based day-to-day lives. The largest of the ionosphere structures, the equatorial ionization anomaly, with global maximum of plasma densities can cause propagation delays on the GNSS signals. The sunset electrodynamics is responsible for the generation of plasma bubble wide spectrum irregularities that can cause scintillation or even disruptions of satellite communication/navigation signals. Driven basically by upward propagating tides, these electric fields can suffer significant modulations from perturbation winds due to gravity waves, planetary/Kelvin waves, and non-migrating tides, as recent observational and modeling results have demonstrated. The changing state of the plasma distribution arising from these highly variable electric fields constitutes an important component of the ionospheric weather disturbances. Another, often dominating, component arises from solar disturbances when coronal mass ejection (CME) interaction with the earth's magnetosphere results in energy transport to lowlatitudes in the form of storm time prompt penetration electric fields and thermospheric disturbance winds. As a result, drastic modifications can occur in the form of layer restructuring (Es-, F3 layers etc.), large total electron content (TEC) enhancements, equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) latitudinal expansion/contraction, anomalous polarization electric fields/vertical drifts, enhanced growth/suppression of plasma structuring, etc. A brief review of our current understanding of the ionospheric weather variations and the

Earlier studies have successfully demonstrated that the GPS-TEC technique is a powerful method to study the propagation pattern of transient disturbances in the ionosphere. This technique has turned out to be sensitive enough to detect ionospheric signatures of ULF waves as well, particularly at high latitudes. It has already been reported earlier that during the recovery phase of the strong magnetic storm on Oct. 31, 2003, intense Pc5 geomagnetic activity was accompanied with distinct pulsations of the same periodicity in the TEC data from high-latitude GPS receiving stations. The present study reveals the identical features in geomagnetic and TEC data at low-latitude stations in the Indian sector as well. However, the presented observational results on TEC modulation by global Pc5 waves at lowlatitudes cannot be interpreted on the basis of the Alfven mode concept. The most promising mechanism that can explain the present observations is the plasma compression by fast magnetosonic mode. Theoretical order-of-magnitude estimates of the ratio between pulsation amplitudes in TEC and geomagnetic field based on the proposed mechanism is found to be about the same as the observed values.

The climatological characteristics of UHF-band scintillations over the low-latitude region of China were investigated by analyzing the observations recorded at three stations of our regional network of satellite-beacon-based scintillation monitoring in 2013. The three stations are Hainan (geographic 20.0° N, 110.3° E; geomagnetic 10.1° N, 177.4° W, dip 28.2°), Guangzhou (geographic 23.0° N, 113.0° E; geomagnetic 13.1° N, 174.8° W, dip 33.9°) and Kunming (geographic 25.6° N, 103.7° E; geomagnetic 15.7° N, 176.4° E, dip 39.0°), located at lowlatitudes of China. The variations of UHF-band scintillation occurrence with latitude, time and season are presented in detail to understand the morphology and climatology of ionospheric scintillations over the low-latitude region of China. An equinoctial asymmetry in the occurrences of scintillation and an obvious difference of the onset time of scintillations between Hainan and Kunming is noted in this data set. Subsequently, the ionosonde data are utilized to study the possible causes of the asymmetry between two equinoxes. The observations suggest that the mean critical frequency (foF2) at 20:00 LT (12:00 UT) in the autumnal equinoctial months (September and October) and the vernal equinoctial months (March and April) has a similar asymmetry. The ratio of the mean foF2 between two equinoxes is proportional to the ratio between the maximum scintillation occurrence in the autumnal equinox and in the vernal equinox. Therefore, this ratio can act as a proxy for the equinoctial asymmetry in the occurrences of scintillation over the low-latitude region of China, and can be used to model the equinoctial asymmetry in our empirical climatological model of scintillation occurrence probability (CMSOP). The CMSOP can provide the predictions of the occurrences of scintillation over the low-latitude region of China and was validated in this study.

Observations of aurora borealis at lowlatitudes are rare, and are clearly associated with high solar activity. In this paper, we analyze some details of the solar activity during the years 1769-1792. Moreover, we describe in detail three lowlatitude auroras. The first event was reported by ash-Shalati and observed in North Africa (1770 AD). The second and third events were reported by l'Abbé Mann and observed in Europe (1770 and 1777 AD).

The 2008-2009 solar minimum period was unprecedentedly deep and extended. We compare the IRI-2012 with global TEC data from JASON-1 satellite and with electron density profiles observed from incoherent scatter radars (ISRs) at middle and high latitudes for this solar minimum period. Global daily mean TECs are calculated from JASON-1 TECs to compare with the corresponding IRI TECs during the 2008-2009 period. It is found that IRI underestimates the global daily mean TEC by about 20-50%. The comparison of global TEC maps further reveals that IRI overall underestimates TEC for the whole globe except for the low-latitude region around the equatorial anomaly, regardless of season. The underestimation is particularly strong in the nighttime winter hemisphere where the ionosphere seems to almost disappear in IRI. In the daytime equatorial region, however, the overestimation of IRI is mainly due to the misrepresentation of the equatorial anomaly in IRI. Further comparison with ISR electron density profiles confirms the significant underestimation of IRI at night in the winter hemisphere.

Satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) provide augmentation to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) users in three areas: (1) broadcasting accurate corrections to GNSS satellite ephemeris, (2) providing a real-time empirical ionospheric model in the service area, and (3) providing integrity information in the form of estimates of the confidence of the ephemeris corrections and ionospheric delays. Ionospheric effects on SBAS are twofold: (a) the input data used by the SBAS will be affected by ionospheric effects, and (b) the more perturbed the ionosphere is, the more difficult it will be to provide accurate and reliable ionospheric information to the users. The ionosphere at lowlatitudes presents larger variability and more intense phenomena than at midlatitudes. Therefore, SBAS providing service to low-latitude regions will be more affected than those at other latitudes. From the different low-latitude ionospheric effects, this paper will focus on those having the largest impact on SBAS, which are total electron content temporal and spatial gradients, ionospheric scintillations, and depletions. This paper will present the impact of these effects on EGNOS (European Global Navigation Overlay System), the European SBAS. Although EGNOS can be considered as a midlatitude SBAS, it has to provide coverage down to rather lowlatitudes, so sometimes low-latitude ionospheric effects are observed in the EGNOS data. It will be shown how EGNOS performs under nominal conditions and how its performance is degraded when low-latitude ionospheric phenomena occur. Real EGNOS data affected by low-latitude ionospheric phenomena will be used.

Continuous measurements using in situ probes on consecutive orbits of the C/NOFS satellite reveal that the plasma density is persistently organized by longitude, in both day and night conditions and at all locations within the satellite orbit, defined by its perigee and apogee of 401 km and 867 km, respectively, and its inclination of 13 degrees. Typical variations are a factor of 2 or 3 compared to mean values. Furthermore, simultaneous observations of DC electric fields and their associated E x B drifts in the lowlatitude ionosphere also reveal that their amplitudes are also strongly organized by longitude in a similar fashion. The drift variations with longitude are particularly pronounced in the meridional component perpendicular to the magnetic field although they are also present in the zonal component as well. The longitudes of the peak meridional drift and density values are significantly out of phase with respect to each other. Time constants for the plasma accumulation at higher altitudes with respect to the vertical drift velocity must be taken into account in order to properly interpret the detailed comparisons of the phase relationship of the plasma density and plasma velocity variations. Although for a given period corresponding to that of several days, typically one longitude region dominates the structuring of the plasma density and plasma drift data, there is also evidence for variations organized about multiple longitudes at the same time. Statistical averages will be shown that suggest a tidal “wave 4” structuring is present in both the plasma drift and plasma density data. We interpret the apparent association of the modulation of the E x B drifts with longitude as well as that of the ambient plasma density as a manifestation of tidal forces at work in the lowlatitude upper atmosphere. The observations demonstrate how the high duty cycle of the C/NOFS observations and its unique orbit expose fundamental processes at work in the low

Continuous measurements using in situ probes on consecutive orbits of the C/N0FS satellite reveal that the plasma density is persistently organized by longitude, in both day and night conditions and at all locations within the satellite orbit, defined by its perigee and apogee of 401 km and 867 km, respectively, and its inclination of 13 degrees. Typical variations are a factor of 2 or 3 compared to mean values. Furthermore, simultaneous observations of DC electric fields and their associated E x B drifts in the lowlatitude ionosphere also reveal that their amplitudes are also strongly organized by longitude in a similar fashion. The drift variations with longitude are particularly pronounced in the meridional component perpendicular to the magnetic field although they are also present in the zonal component as well. The longitudes of the peak meridional drift and density values are significantly out of phase with respect to each other. Time constants for the plasma accumulation at higher altitudes with respect to the vertical drift velocity must be taken into account in order to properly interpret the detailed comparisons of the phase relationship of the plasma density and plasma velocity variations. Although for a given period corresponding to that of several days, typically one longitude region dominates the structuring of the plasma density and plasma drift data, there is also evidence for variations organized about multiple longitudes at the same time. Statistical averages will be shown that suggest a tidal "wave 4" structuring is present in both the plasma drift and plasma density data. We interpret the apparent association of the modulation of the E x B drifts with longitude as well as that of the ambient plasma density as a manifestation of tidal forces at work in the lowlatitude upper atmosphere. The observations demonstrate how the high duty cycle of the C/NOFS observations and its unique orbit expose fundamental processes at work in the lowlatitude

Medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances are often observed at the magnetically conjugate points in the nighttime midlatitude ionosphere. It has been suggested that gravity waves disturb the ionosphere and induce electric fields in one hemisphere and that the electric fields are amplified by the Perkins instability and transmitted along the geomagnetic field lines to the conjugate ionosphere, creating similar disturbances there. However, direct observations of electric fields associated with traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) are very few. In this study, we present low-latitude TID-like disturbances observed by the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite. It is found that ion velocity perturbations are generated in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the geomagnetic field within TIDs. Both the parallel and perpendicular ion velocity perturbations show an in-phase correlation with the ion density perturbations. For nighttime TIDs, the amplitude of both the parallel and meridional ion velocity perturbations increases almost linearly with the amplitude of the ion density perturbations, and the meridional ion drift is proportional to the parallel ion velocity. For daytime TIDs, the parallel ion velocity perturbation increases with the ion density perturbation, but the meridional ion velocity perturbation does not change much. The observations provide evidence that polarization electric field is generated within TIDs at lowlatitudes and maps along the geomagnetic field lines over a large distance.

In recent years, there has been growing scientific interest in Arctic ionospheric properties and variations. However our understanding of the fundamental ionospheric processes present in this area is still incomplete. GNSS networks present in Greenland today make it possible to acquire near-real time observations of the state and variations of the high-latitude ionosphere. This data can be employed to obtain relevant geophysical variables and statistics. In our study GPS-derived total electron content (TEC) measurements have been complemented with amplitude scintillation indices (S4), and phase scintillation indices (σφ). The investigation of the relationship between these geophysical variables will likely lead to new ways to study the underlying physical processes and to build tools for monitoring and predicting large-scale patterns in Arctic TEC and scintillations. A number of specific ionosphere events will be presented and the underlying geophysical process will be identified and described. In particular, results will be presented where large-scale gradients in the regional TEC are compared with the growth of scintillations. The statistics of the scintillations will be investigated, with emphasis on how well the scintillations follow the Nakagami-m distribution. The spectra of both the intensities and phase will be calculated, and the corner frequency of these spectra will also be determined. These corner frequencies will be used to compute a number of important geophysical and ionospheric parameters. Furthermore, we will discuss how the spectral characteristics of the scintillations during large TEC gradients vary, and how values of the power spectra slopes change during increasing scintillations. These values will be validated against values found in prior studies. TEC and scintillation time-series and maps will also be presented over the Greenlandic region. We will show how the expansion of the auroral oval during geomagnetic storms can be detected from

Observations from the high-frequency multistatic backscatter sounding radars on a geomagnetically quiet day (minimum Dst = -14 nT) captured the anti-equatorward propagation of daytime large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbance (LSTID) at the low-latitude regions. The observed LSTID was characterized approximately by a meridional propagation speed of 347 ± 78 m/s and azimuthal angle of -4.7 ± 27.6° (counterclockwise from north), with a period of 76 min and a wavelength of 1583 ± 354 km by means of maximum entropy cross-spectral analysis. Vertical phase velocity was also evaluated to be low-latitude ionosphere can undergo large-scale perturbations even under geomagnetically quiet conditions. We suggest that this observed LSTID could be due to the secondary gravity waves from thermospheric body forces created from the dissipation of primary gravity waves from deep tropospheric convection.

Coastal oceans are regions of large and highly variable air-sea CO2 fluxes, leading to highly uncertain predictions of globally significant contributions to the atmospheric carbon budget. Estimates of net annual regional fluxes are often the balance between poorly-constrained, large-magnitude sinks and sources. This is the case for the Pacific coast of North America, where a recent synthesis (Chavez et al., 2007) predicted low total fluxes resulting from the near-cancellation of large, lightly-sampled fluxes of opposite sign. In particular, the lowlatitude coastal waters off Central America appeared to be a large source of CO2 to the atmosphere, but there was very low spatial and temporal observational coverage in these waters. Recently, new VOS data in this region has become available that has dramatically increased both spatial and temporal sampling density in this region. In previous work we developed a new remote sensing-based synthetic approach applied to the mid-latitude regions of the North American Pacific coast that gave strong predictive power and was subsequently validated by in-water measurements in the summer of 2007. We present the results of applying this predictive approach to the target study region, and the predictive relationship is then combined with seasonally resolved remote sensing data to generate annual net flux estimates and to evaluate the prediction of strong efflux from these low-latitude waters based on the sparse historical data.

Between 1991 and 1999, the Piura VHF radar (5.2S, 80.6W, 7.0N dip latitude) in northern Peru has been operated intermittently to observe coherent backscatter from 3-m E-region field-aligned irregularities. These echoes are detected by pointing the antenna beam to the north at 14 zenith angle, i.e., perpendicular to the magnetic field lines, in an area just outside the equatorial electrojet zone and far from mid latitudes. Studies of these observations have shown that the spectral and diurnal characteris- tics of backscatter are reminiscent of midlatitude E region irregularities rather than those at the equatorial electrojet. Since January 2000, "continuous" (2 minutes every 12 minutes) observations have been started in order to study in more detail the diur- nal and seasonal morphology of backscatter. In this paper, we analyze these data to study the morphology of the echoes (diurnal and seasonal) and compare it to the mor- phology of sporadic E (Es) layers observed in lowlatitude ionosonde stations. The results show the occurrence of the Piura E region irregularities to be in close relation with the characteristics of Es layers and their morphology. This indicates that E re- gion coherent backscatter even at very lowlatitudes is basically of the same nature as that observed at midlatitude, therefore it relates to plasma instabilities operating inside Es layers. In addition, we investigate the long-term (periods of days) variability seen in echo occurrence and intensity of the Piura backscatter and examine how these variations compare with similar ones measured at midlatitude, and also their possible relationship with planetary waves which are known to exist in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere.

A midnight brightness wave (MBW) is the phenomenon that the OI (630-nm) airglow enhancement propagates poleward once at local midnight. In this study, we first conducted geomagnetically conjugate observations of 630nm airglow for an MBW at conjugate stations. An airglow enhancement which is considered to be an MBW was observed in the 630-nm airglow images at Kototabang, Indonesia (geomagnetic latitude (MLAT): 10.0S) at around local midnight from 1540 to 1730 UT (from 2240 to 2430 LT) on 7 February 2011. This MBW was propagating south-southwestward, which is geomagnetically poleward, with a velocity of 290 m/s. However, similar wave was not observed in the 630-nm airglow images at Chiang Mai, Thailand (MLAT: 8.9N), which is close to being conjugate point of Kototabang. This result indicates that the MBW does not have geomagnetic conjugacy. We simultaneously observed thermospheric neutral winds observed by a co-located Fabry-Perot interferometer at Kototabang. The observed meridional winds turned from northward (geomagnetically equatorward) to southward (geomagnetically poleward) just before the MBW was observed. The bottomside ionospheric heights observed by ionosondes rapidly decreased at Kototabang and slightly increased at Chiang Mai simultaneously with the MBW passage. In the presentation, we discuss the MBW generation by the observed poleward neutral winds at Kototabang, and the cause of the coinciding small height increase at Chiang Mai by the polarization electric field inside the observed MBW at Kototabang.

Understanding plasma heating and transport across fluid, ion and electron scales is currently not well understood in astrophysical plasmas. We have recently identified (by determining the observational dispersion relation using multi-point spacecraft measurements) an ion-scale, large amplitude fast mode wave observed inside a fluid-scale Kelvin-Helmholtz vortex. The Poyinting flux of the fast mode wave packet was sufficient to produce the observed ~5 keV energy increase of ions of magnetosheath origin. In this followup work, we analyze in detail the other intervals with similar characteristics, where the cold magnetosheath population becomes significantly energized. We identify the plasma wave modes present and discuss whether their energy budget is sufficient for the observed level of energization.

The statistical characteristics of E-region field-aligned irregularities observed with the Gadanki MST radar are presented and compared with observations made with the Piura radar at a similar magnetic latitude. Echoes are observed day and night, with the nighttime echoes being more intense and covering a greater height extent than during the day. The most probable echo occurrence times are just after sunrise (95%) and just before sunset (80%), when the echoing regions were centered around 95 and 100 km, respectively. The lowest probability of echo occurrence is found to be during noontime hours. The spectra of these echoes over Gadanki were all type 2. The mean Doppler velocities for altitudes above 105 km were upward at typically 10ms-1 during the day and downward at about 10ms-1 during the night. Spectral widths of 10-40ms-1 were found during the day and 30-60ms-1 during the night. These characteristics of E-region irregularities over Gadanki are quite similar to those found over Piura, and are remarkably different from those at either equatorial or higher latitudes.

Investigation of ionospheric anomalies during equatorial and lowlatitude is of major concern for modeling and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) applications. Total electron content (TEC) varies with the ionospheric conditions, which will lead to the errors in the global positioning system (GPS) measurements. It is therefore a method that is necessary to characterize the ionospheric anomalies for satellite-based navigation systems. In this study, characterization of ionospheric variations based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) and classical multidimensional scaling (MDS) methods was studied. The yearly and daily variations are decomposed from the GPS-TEC, international reference ionosphere (IRI) 2007 and IRI 2012 models TEC over the three low-latitude GNSS stations located at Koneru Lakshmaiah University (KLU-Guntur), Hyderabad and Bangalore, respectively. From the results, it is found that there is a strong correlation between GPS-TEC and IRI models. The correlation coefficient for the first three singular values is more than 0.86. From this, it is possible to reconstruct more than 85 % of the variability contained in global GPS-derived VTEC data (for year 2013) by using only the first three modes. The semiannual variation has maximum value during March-April and September-October and has minimum value during June-July. It is observed that the annual variations have maximum value in summer and minimum value in winter, and the amplitudes decrease with increasing latitude. Further, opposite latitudinal asymmetry among annual and semiannual variations for three GNSS stations is noticed. SVD and MDS methods clearly show time-varying characteristics and the absence of the winter anomaly at low-latitude GNSS stations.

The results of solar flare induced D-region perturbation studies along a short great circle path (GCP=6690 km) lying entirely in the low and equatorial latitude region are presented. We use SoftPAL receiver at Agra (Geograph. lat. 27.2°N, long. 78°E), India and monitor NWC signal ( f=19.8 kHz) transmitted from Australia. We analyze the data for the year 2011 and find that the results of amplitude and phase perturbations, time delay, zenith angle independence, and electron density variation in the lower ionosphere are consistent with those observed along similar paths at low and high latitudes. The new work includes; (i) the distribution of peak X-ray flares in the mixed solar cycle period 2011 responsible for clear and measurable sudden phase anomalies (SPAs) is different from that in minimum solar cycle period, though the cut off hardening factor is the same; (ii) the phase anomalies are evaluated in terms of X-ray fluence (J/m2); (iii) the perturbation due to X-class of flare is used to calculate the electron densities in 70-60 km height range which are found to be 60-80 % lower than those in the polar region where X-ray flare is followed by solar proton event.

In the equatorial region, the daytime F region exhibits three layers, namely F1, F2 and F3 layers. The detail characteristics of the F2 and F3 layers and their variabilities at different equatorial latitudes, however, have not been well defined. Given the fact that equatorial ionosphere is governed profoundly by dynamical and electro-dynamical forcing, electron density varies remarkably with latitude and altitude. A detailed characterization and study of the equatorial F region, thus, is necessary for improving ionospheric model, such as International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), applicable to the equatorial region. For this purpose, we have analyzed ionosonde observations from the dip equator and low magnetic latitude in the Indian sector to characterize the F2 and F3 layers in different seasons and solar activity conditions. In this paper, we present a detailed comparative analysis on the variabilities of the F2 and F3 layers as a function of local time, season and solar activity conditions. Finally, these results are compared with the IRI model parameters in an effort to evaluate the suitability of the IRI model representing the equatorial ionosphere in the Indian sector.

We have used the Piura VHF radar (5°12'S, 80°38'W, ˜7.5°N geomagnetic latitude, just outside the magnetic equator) in northern Peru to gather echoes from 3-m E region field-aligned irregularities. We present statistical results of these echoes: percentage of occurrence and histograms of radial velocities and spectral widths, obtained with a 15-day data set gathered in 1996. These E region echoes are confined to 95- to 120-km altitude and present spectral characteristics similar to equatorial electrojet (EEJ) echoes generated by a gradient drift instability, i.e., type 2. However, they appear mainly at nighttime and early morning (1800-0800 LT) and therefore do not present a temporal similarity to EEJ echoes. Moreover, we observe the existence of two well-defined types of echoes: (1) lower E region echoes (95-105 km) and upper E region echoes (105-120 km). Both regions show different spectral and temporal characteristics. It is difficult to determine at this point the physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of the irregularities without measurements of E fields and density gradients, which we plan to do in a future experiment.

We present the observation of tweek atmospherics with harmonics m = 1-8 during the solar maximum year, 2013, at Tay Nguyen University, Vietnam (Geog. 12.65° N, 108.02° E). The analysis of 33,690 tweeks on ten international quiet days during 2 months each season, summer (May, August), winter (February, November), and equinox (March, September), shows that tweeks occur about 51 % during summer, 22 % during winter, and 27 % during equinox. The D-region ionosphere is more sharply bounded for harmonics m = 5-6 around an altitude of 85.5 km. The environment of the D-region is more inhomogeneous during winter and equinox seasons. The mean electron density varies from 28.4-225 cm -3, which corresponds to the harmonics m = 1-8 at the mean reflection height of 81.5-87.7 km. The results reveal that the lower reference height in our work as compared to other works is due to the higher level of solar activity. The equivalent electron density profile of the nighttime D-region ionosphere using tweek method during summer, equinox, and winter seasons shows lower values of electron density by 12-58 %, 3-67 %, and 24-76 % than those obtained using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2012) model.

Due to several complexities associated with the equatorial ionosphere, and the significant role which the total electron content (TEC) variability plays in GPS signal transmission, there is the need to monitor irregularities in TEC during storm events. The GPS SCINDA receiver data at Ile-Ife, Nigeria, was analysed with a view to characterizing the ionospheric response to geomagnetic storms on 9 March and 1 October 2012. Presently, positive storm effects, peaks in TEC which were associated with prompt penetration of electric fields and changes in neutral gas composition were observed for the storms. The maximum percentage deviation in TEC of about 120 and 45% were observed for 9 March and 1 October 2012, respectively. An obvious negative percentage TEC deviation subsequent to sudden storm commencement (SSC) was observed and besides a geomagnetic storm does not necessarily suggest a high scintillation intensity (S4) index. The present results show that magnetic storm events at lowlatitude regions may have an adverse effect on navigation and communication systems.

We study a magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at lowlatitudes during a moderate (corotating interaction regions/high-speed solar wind streams-driven) geomagnetic storm on 22 July 2009. Recently, it has been shown that during major (coronal mass ejection-driven) storms, quasi-trapped >30 keV electrons largely enhance below the radiation belt in the forbidden zone and produce an additional ionization in the topside ionosphere. In this work, we examine a case of the recurrent storm when the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling through the quasi-trapped electrons also may take place. Data from NOAA/Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite and Japanese Greenhouse gases Observing Satellite were used to identify the forbidden electron enhancement (FEE). We find a positive vertical gradient of the electron fluxes that indicates to the radiation belt as a source of FEE. Using global ionospheric maps, radiotomography reconstructions from beacon data and COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 radio occultation measurements, we have observed an unusually large area in the nighttime ionosphere with increased total electron content (TEC) and prominent elevation of the F layer at lowlatitudes that coincides with FEEs spatially and temporarily. Ionizing particles are considered as an addition source of ionization along with generally accepted mechanisms for storm time TEC increase (a positive ionospheric storm). We discuss relative contributions of the FEE and disturbance dynamo electric field in the TEC increases during the storm recovery phase.

The seasonal characteristics of a 16 day planetary wave simultaneously in mesospheric temperature and winds over a low-latitude station Thumba (8.5°N, 76.5°E) using meteor radar observations are discussed for the first time. Four years (2005-2008) of meteor radar winds and temperature observations are used for the present study. It is observed that the amplitude of a 16 day wave in zonal component is more than that of meridional. Further analysis shows that the westerly phase of zonal wind is more favorable for the 16 day waves. The maximum amplitude of a 16 day wave in mesospheric temperature is observed during January-February and August-September. Climatology of a 16 day wave shows the signature of semiannual oscillation (SAO) in mesospheric temperature but not in winds. The vertical amplitude structure of zonal component shows the maximum amplitude at ˜88-92 km with constant phase. It is also noticed that zonal and meridional winds are in phase, whereas the temperature leads zonal wind by 5 ± 1 days. The significance of the present study lies in showing the 16 day wave characteristics, effect of background winds, and manifestation of SAO on their variability.

We have begun an investigation of the nature of the low-latitude boundary layer in the mid-altitude cusp region using data from the Polar spacecraft. Magnetosheath-like plasma is frequently observed deep (in terms of distance from the magnetopause and in invariant latitude) in the magnetosphere. One such case, taken during a long period of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMP) on March 18, 2006, shows injected magnetosheath ions within the magnetosphere with velocity distributions resulting from two separate merging sites along the same field lines. Cold ionospheric ions were also observed counterstreaming along the field lines, evidence that these field lines were closed. Our results support the idea of double reconnection under northward IMP on the same group of field lines can provide a source for the LLBL. However, the flow direction of the accelerated magnetosheath ions antiparallel to the local magnetic field and given location of the spacecraft suggest that these two injection sites are located northward of the spacecraft position. Observed convection velocities of the magnetic field lines are inconsistent with those expected for double post-cusp reconnection in both hemispheres. These observations favor a scenario in which a group of newly closed field lines was created by a combination of high shear merging at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere and low shear merging at lower latitudes at the dayside magnetopause.

Effects of two events of X-ray bursts followed by solar proton events (SPEs) occurred on 22 September, 2011 and 06 July, 2012 on the variation of first mode Schumann resonance (SR) frequency monitored at a lowlatitude station, Agra (Geograph. lat. 27.2°N, long. 78°E) India are examined. The variation of average first mode SR frequency shows a sudden increase in coincidence with the X-ray bursts and a decrease associated with the peak flux of SPE. The increases in the frequency in the two cases are 8.4% and 10.9% and corresponding decreases are 4.3% and 3.3% respectively. The increases in the frequency are interpreted in terms of growth of ionization in the upper part of D-region ionosphere due to X-ray bursts and decreases during SPE are caused by the high ionization in the lower D-region (altitude about 50-60 km) in the polar region. The variation of SR frequency is observed to be consistent with other observatories at middle and high latitudes. The effects of X-ray flares on the D-region of the ionosphere at low and equatorial latitudes are also examined by analyzing the amplitude data of VLF transmitter signal (NWC, f=19.8 kHz) monitored at Agra. The flare effect observed prior to sun-set hours shows increase of electron density above 60 km in the ionosphere.

Ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) show variations consistent with atmospheric internal gravity waves caused by ocean tsunamis following two recent seismic events: the American Samoa earthquake of September 29, 2009, and the Chile earthquake of February 27, 2010. Fluctuations in TEC correlated in time, space, and wave properties with these tsunamis were observed in TEC estimates processed using JPL's Global Ionospheric Mapping Software. These TEC estimates were band-pass filtered to remove ionospheric TEC variations with wavelengths and periods outside the typical range of internal gravity waves caused by tsunamis. Observable variations in TEC appear correlated with the tsunamis in certain locations, but not in others. Where variations are observed, the typical amplitude tends to be on the order of 1% of the background TEC value. Variations with amplitudes 0.1 - 0.2 TECU are observable with periods and timing affiliated with the tsunami. These observations are compared to estimates of expected tsunami-driven TEC variations produced by Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's Spectral Full Wave Model, an atmosphere-ionosphere coupling model, and found to be in good agreement in some locations, though there are cases when the model predicts an observable tsunami-driven signature and none is observed. These TEC variations are not always seen when a tsunami is present, but in these two events the regions where a strong ocean tsunami was observed did coincide with clear TECobservations, while a lack of clear TECobservations coincided with smaller tsunami amplitudes. There exists the potential to apply these detection techniques to real-time GPS TEC data, providing estimates of tsunami speed and amplitude that may be useful for early warning systems.

In this paper, we present unique results of equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere response to one of the major geomagnetic storms of the current solar cycle that occurred during 17-18 March 2015, where Dst reached its minimum of -228 nT. Here we utilized data from magnetometers, chain of ionosondes located at Tirunelveli (8.73°N, 77.70°E; geometry: 0.32°N), Hyderabad (17.36°N, 78.47°E; geometry 8.76°N), and Allahabad (25.45°N, 81.85°E; geometry 16.5°N) along with multistation GPS receivers over Indian sector. The observations showed a remarkable increase of h'F to as high as ~560 km over Tirunelveli (magnetic equator) with vertical drift of ~70 m/s at 13:30 UT due to direct penetration of storm time eastward electric fields which exactly coincided with the local time of pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) and caused intense equatorial spread F irregularities in ionosondes and scintillations in GPS receivers at wide latitudes. Plasma irregularities are so intense that their signatures are seen in Allahabad/Lucknow. Storm time thermospheric meridional winds as estimated using two ionosondes suggest the equatorward surge of gravity waves with period of ~2 h. Suppression of anomaly crest on the subsequent day of the storm suggests the complex role of disturbance dynamo electric fields and disturbance wind effects. Our results also show an interesting feature of traveling ionospheric disturbances possibly associated with disturbance meridional wind surge during recovery phase. In addition, noteworthy observations are nighttime westward zonal drifts and PRE-related total electron content enhancements at anomaly crests during main phase and counter electrojet signatures during recovery phase.

We report the features of the ionospheric TEC variations derived from the GLONASS measurements during the partial solar eclipse of March 20, 2015. Over Europe the maximal phase of the eclipse was observed around 10 UT. The eclipse took place during period when the ionosphere changed from night to day conditions. This eclipse occurred on the recovery phase of the strong geomagnetic storm of March 17, 2015. The effect of the eclipse was detected in diurnal variations of TEC over the individual GNSS stations as a trough-like variation with a gradual decrease and a succeeding increase of TEC at the time of the eclipse. The eclipse effect on the TEC distribution was observed more distinctly along individual satellite passes. Over the Kaliningrad GNSS station (54N, 20E) we registered the maximal TEC depression of about 4-6 TECU along several satellite passes. We should note that analysis of the ionospheric effects of the solar eclipse was complicated by the geomagnetic storm of March 17. The superposition of the storm and the eclipse make it difficult to separate the absolute TEC changes caused by the eclipse. At the same time the strong changes of the spatial structure of the TEC distribution were registered on the TEC maps. To analyze the spatial TEC distribution during the eclipse the TEC maps with high spatial-temporal resolution were produced. We used the GLONSS measurements derived from 150-180 stations of the dense European GNSS network. Dynamics of the ionospheric plasma density was analyzed using the mixture GLONASS-GPS TEC maps produced with 5 min sampling rate. The spatial structure of the ionosphere changed essentially during the eclipse comparing with the control days. The occurred TEC gradients were quite different comparing with previous and subsequent days. The complex pattern in the spatial-temporal TEC distribution highlights the important role of the dynamic processes in the ionosphere during the eclipse.

The PC5 geomagnetic pulsations often appear coherently at the high latitude afternoon sector and the dayside geomagnetic equator. The local time and latitude features characterized by the equatorial enhancement are similar to those of the storm sudden commencement (SSC) and quasi-periodic DP2 magnetic fluctuations. The equatorial PC5 has been attributed to oscillations in the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) driven by the electric field transmitted from the high latitude [Motoba et al., 2002]. The PC5 electric field has been detected by the HF Doppler (HFD) measurements at lowlatitude in correlation with the EEJ [Motoba et al., 2004]. The coherency between the HFD and EEJ suggests that the PC5 electric field is transmitted from the polar ionosphere to lowlatitude by the TM0 mode wave in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide [Kikuchi et al., 1978; Kikuchi and Araki, 1979] which explained the simultaneous onset of the preliminary reverse impulse (PRI) of SSC at high latitude and dayside geomagnetic equator. To understand the PC5 electric field in the context of the waveguide mode transmission, we made correlation analyses between the HFD and EEJ on the day- and night-sides for the series of PC5 events during the geomagnetic storms on October 29-31 2003. We found that the lowlatitude electric field is not well correlated with the lowlatitude PC5, but in excellent correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.9) with the EEJ on both the day- and night-sides. Furthermore, the electric field and EEJ on the dayside are in opposite direction to those on the nightside. We suggest that the PC5 electric field is a potential field associated with the ionospheric currents similar to the SSC and DP2, which is carried to the polar ionosphere by a pair of field-aligned currents and transmitted to lowlatitude by the TM0 mode waves.

Turbulent momentum and heat (sensible and latent) fluxes at the air-sea interface are key components of the whole energetic of the Earth's climate and their good representation in climate models is of prime importance. In this work, we use the methodology developed by Braconnot & Frankignoul (1993) to perform a Hotelling T2 test on spatio-temporal fields (annual cycles). This statistic provides a quantitative measure accounting for an estimate of the observational uncertainty for the evaluation of low-latitude turbulent air-sea fluxes in a suite of IPSL model versions. The spread within the observational ensemble of turbulent flux data products assembled by Gainusa-Bogdan et al (submitted) is used as an estimate of the observational uncertainty for the different turbulent fluxes. The methodology holds on a selection of a small number of dominating variability patterns (EOFs) that are common to both the model and the observations for the comparison. Consequently it focuses on the large-scale variability patterns and avoids the possibly noisy smaller scales. The results show that different versions of the IPSL couple model share common large scale model biases, but also that there the skill on sea surface temperature is not necessarily directly related to the skill in the representation of the different turbulent fluxes. Despite the large error bars on the observations the test clearly distinguish the different merits of the different model version. The analyses of the common EOF patterns and related time series provide guidance on the major differences with the observations. This work is a first attempt to use such statistic on the evaluation of the spatio-temporal variability of the turbulent fluxes, accounting for an observational uncertainty, and represents an efficient tool for systematic evaluation of simulated air-seafluxes, considering both the fluxes and the related atmospheric variables. References Braconnot, P., and C. Frankignoul (1993), Testing Model

This paper presents a study of the St Patrick's Day storm of 2015, with its ionospheric response at middle and lowlatitudes. The effects of the storm in each longitudinal sector (Asian, African, American, and Pacific) are characterized using global and regional electron content. At the beginning of the storm, one or two ionospheric positive storm effects are observed depending on the longitudinal zones. After the main phase of the storm, a strong decrease in ionization is observed at all longitudes, lasting several days. The American region exhibits the most remarkable increase in vertical total electron content (vTEC), while in the Asian sector, the largest decrease in vTEC is observed. At lowlatitudes, using spectral analysis, we were able to separate the effects of the prompt penetration of the magnetospheric convection electric field (PPEF) and of the disturbance dynamo electric field (DDEF) on the basis of ground magnetic data. Concerning the PPEF, Earth's magnetic field oscillations occur simultaneously in the Asian, African, and American sectors, during southward magnetization of the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field. Concerning the DDEF, diurnal magnetic oscillations in the horizontal component H of the Earth's magnetic field exhibit a behavior that is opposed to the regular one. These diurnal oscillations are recognized to last several days in all longitudinal sectors. The observational data obtained by all sensors used in the present paper can be interpreted on the basis of existing theoretical models.

Equatorial regions are the scene of prolific generation of gravity waves by deep tropical convection. Waves generated by deep convection have appreciable energy at frequencies and spatial scales that are able to reach altitudes in the Middle Atmosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) and above where they may attain significant amplitudes. A portion of these waves have scales and amplitudes large enough to be detected by space borne instruments. We have analyzed temperature data from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics Dynamics (TIMED) satellite for sub-tidal scale fluctuations. Filtering was applied both vertically and horizontally to extract wave variances. We have examined the variances at equatorial latitudes for the altitude region between 70 and 120 km and have have characterized them as a function of season, local time intervals, geographical location and altitude. We find large variances in locations of where convection is particularly prolific (e.g., western South Pacific) and at altitudes where wave trapping is known to be favored (e.g., the lower thermospheric duct). The locations of significant variances persist from year to year. Variances of on the order of a few tens of degrees are found. We have also performed simulations of the response to deep tropical convection with the The Aerospace Corporation Dynamical Model (ADM). This model is a time dependent, high-resolution fully compressible dynamical model that has been used to examine the MLT wave response to intense cellular convection in northern Australia. The background thermal structure for the present simulations was obtained from TIMED/SABER data averaged over lowlatitudes by season and local time. Our simulations give wave amplitudes that agree reasonably well with the observed amplitudes and show layering that is consistent with the observations. We will show the results of our analysis of

The convection electric field penetrates from the polar ionosphere to lowlatitude and drives the DP2 currents in the global ionosphere with an intensified equatorial electrojet (EEJ). The electric field often reverses its direction, that is, the overshielding occurs and causes the equatorial counterelectrojet (CEJ) during storm and substorms. In this paper we report that the overshielding electric field is detected by the HF Doppler sounders at lowlatitude on the nightside. We analyzed the Doppler frequency of the HF radio signals propagated over 120 km in Japan at frequencies of 5 and 8 MHz and compared with the equatorial EEJ/CEJ during the substorm expansion phase. We found that the overshielding electric field reaches around 2 mV/m during major substorms (AL observed on the nightside at lowlatitude during the major substorms, while the convection electric field is dominant during smaller size substorms, as the CEJ flows on the dayside. These results suggest that the overshielding electric field associated with the Region-2 field-aligned currents becomes dominant during substorms at lowlatitude on the nightside as well as on the dayside.

Solar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons are responsible for ionizing the terrestrial atmosphere and create the ionosphere. During solar flares, a fast increase in the electron density at different altitude regions takes place due to the abrupt enhance of the X-ray and EUV fluxes reaching Earth. With these changes in the ionosphere, radio communication and navigation can be drastically affected. The magnitudes of these Space Weather events can be related to the X-ray peak brightness and duration, which drive the intensity of the ionosphere response when the associated electromagnetic wave hit the sunlit side of the Earth's atmosphere. Other aspects defining these changes in a particular region are the local time, the solar zenith angle, and the position of the flare in the solar disc for each event. In order to improve the understand of radio signal degradation and loss in the Brazilian sector due to solar abrupt electromagnetic emissions, total electron content (TEC) data obtained by a GPS network formed by tents of dual-frequency receivers spread all over Brazilian territory were analyzed. It was observed different ionospheric local changes during several X-ray events identified by GOES satellite regarding the 0.1-0.8 nm range, and some case studies were ponder for a more detailed analysis of these effects. Considering the results, we have made an estimation of the ionospheric disturbances range for a particular event with great chance to affect space based communications in the equatorial and low-latitude regions.

GPS technique is widely used to study the global structure and dynamics of the ionosphere. In this paper GPS observations carried out at Arctic and Antarctic stations belonging to the IGS network were used to study TEC fluctuations in the high-latitude ionosphere during the ionospheric storms. Dual-frequency GPS phase measurements along individual satellite passes served as raw data. It was shown that ionospheric irregularities of a different scale were devel-oped in the auroral and polar ionosphere. It is a common phenomenon caused phase fluctuations of GPS signals. In November 2009, West Department of IZMIRAN in Kaliningrad (Russia) and University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland) established computer server for automatic monitoring of these irregularities. The rate of TEC index (ROTI) expressed in TECU/min was used as a measure of TEC fluctuations. During its operation TEC variations related to ionospheric structures of a spatial scale more than 200-300 km were detected. Large-scale ionospheric structures cause an increase in horizontal gradients and difficulties with the carrier phase ambiguity resolution in GPS positioning. In turn, the phase fluctuations can cause cycle-slip effects. At the polar stations, ionospheric structures with TEC enhanced by a factor of 3-5 relative to the background were detected, whereas TEC increased to 5-8 TECU in about 10-15 min. These structures were observed during a storm, as well as during a moderate geomagnetic activity. It can be probably attributed to the polar cap patches. In this study are presented the extended and more detailed analyses of TEC fluctuations in both the northern and southern hemispheres and compare the winter and summer events (November and July 2004 storms). A special attention is given to the features related to TEC fluctuations occur-rence in both hemispheres for conjugated GPS stations. The temporal development of both storms was rather similar. During storms the intensity of irregularities

Earlier studies demonstrated that the monitoring of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) by global satellite navigation systems is a powerful method to study the propagation of transient disturbances in the ionosphere, induced by internal gravity waves. This technique has turned out to be sensitive enough to detect ionospheric signatures of magnetohydrodynamic waves as well. However, the effect of TEC modulation by ULF waves is not well examined as a responsible mechanism has not been firmly identified. During periods with intense Pc5 waves distinct pulsations with the same periodicity were found in the TEC data from high-latitude GPS receivers in Scandinavia. We analyze jointly responses in TEC variations and EISCAT ionospheric parameters to global Pc5 pulsations during the recovery phase of the strong magnetic storms on October 31, 2003. Comparison of periodic fluctuations of the electron density at different altitudes from EISCAT data shows that main contribution into TEC pulsations is provided by the lower ionosphere, up to ~150 km, that is the E-layer and lower F-layer. This observational fact favors the TEC modulation mechanism by field-aligned plasma transport induced by Alfven wave. Analytical estimates and numerical modeling support the effectiveness of this mechanism. Though the proposed hypothesis is basically consistent with the analyzed event, the correspondence between magnetic and ionospheric oscillations is not always perfect, so further studies need to be conducted to understand fully the TEC modulations associated with Pc5 pulsations.

Storm enhanced density (SED) involves the redistribution of plasmas in the ionosphere and magnetosphere driven by disturbance electric fields. Associated with SED events are large scale gradients in the total electron density (TEC) over relatively short distances. These TEC gradients can have direct impact on navigation and communication users. For example, marine users have horizontal positioning requirements of 2-5 meters at a 95 percent confidence level for safety of navigation in inland waterways. TEC gradients observed during 2003 SED events resulted in positioning errors larger than 20 meters on differential GPS baselines as short as 200 km. Large TEC gradients associated with SED events (greater than 100 TEC units per degree) have been observed near many large airports in the Northeast and Northwest continental US. Better SED characterization has been needed to improve current ionospheric models and to further our understanding of this phenomenon. The Madrigal database at MIT Haystack Observatory now contains TEC data with an unprecedented combination of global spatial coverage and high temporal resolution. Data from more than 2000 receivers are being incorporated into the daily 2005 TEC maps. This database has allowed for long term statistical studies of the presence of SED. In this paper, we present statistics of SED plumes observed during multiple storms during the 2000-2005 time period. The location, size of gradients, and time evolution of multiple SED events has been statistically characterized using an automated gradient analysis tool. Examples of magnetically conjugate SED plumes over northern Europe and the American longitude sectors will be discussed. Inter-hemispheric comparisons of the TEC magnitude of the observed SED events at the base, as well as within the plume, will be presented. The results also include observations of magnetically conjugate sub-auroral polarization streams (SAPS) which accompany the SED events using DMSP ion drift

X-rays, UV radiation and Coronal mass emitted during solar flares can affect the Earth's ionosphere and disrupt long-range radio communications. The present study investigates the effects of solar flares on the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) with the help of global positioning system (GPS) data from lowlatitude stations in India located within the EIA region. Two X-class solar flares on 05th and 08th November 2013 have been selected for the present study. A significant enhancement in TEC is observed at regions around the EIA crest region during the flare and this enhancement is attributed to (a) the flare related EUV flux enhancement and consequent increased production of ionization, and (b) flare induced changes in the equatorial electrodynamics which in turn modifies ionospheric altitude profile of plasma via E × B drift mechanism. The supporting data from COSMIC electron density profile is also used to confirm the flare time enhancement.

Low-latitude reefs and reef islands usually experience relatively benign climatic and hydrodynamic conditions due to their location near to the equator, outside of the major storm belts, and they typically exhibit geomorphological traits that reflect the prevailing low-energy conditions. For example, algal ridges are poorly developed, reef flat boulder zones are modest or lacking, rubble banks are rare, and reef islands tend to be low and dominated by sand. Nukutoa is a low-lying triangular-shaped reef island of ~ 6 ha located on the eastern rim of Takuu atoll (4°45‧S, 157°2‧E), Papua New Guinea, approximately 300 km northeast of Bougainville. The approximately 450 residents of Takuu all live on Nukutoa. In December 2008 Takuu was struck by several days of very high water levels and waves, which washed completely over approximately 50% of Nukutoa. GPS shoreline mapping and topographic surveys of the island were undertaken in the days immediately prior to the event, and were repeated immediately after. Homes and village infrastructure were damaged during this event, which eroded around 60% of the shoreline, and deposited a sand sheet averaging around 50 mm thick over approximately 13% of the island. This event was generated by two distant storms - one located > 6000 km away near 50°N, and affected a wide area of the Western Pacific. Oral histories record at least five similar events since the 1940s. In this paper we document the geomorphic impacts of the December 2008 event and discuss the possible significance of similar events in the past, and in the future.

The Low-latitude Ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN) is a distributed observatory designed to provide regional coverage in South America and high-temporal resolution measurements to diagnose the initiation and development of plasma structures and the state and dynamics of the lowlatitude ionosphere. It combines inexpensive GPS receivers and state-of-the-art radars such as the Vertical Incidence Pulsed Ionospheric Radar (VIPIR) ionosondes and magnetometers. This paper describes the characteristics of the LISN distributed observatory and discusses the results of the first two campaigns. LISN will be comprised of nearly 70 GPS receivers with the capability to measure Total Electron Content (TEC), amplitude and phase scintillation and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs). LISN will also include 5 ionosondes able to measure nighttime E-region densities and 5 collocated magnetometers that will be placed along the same magnetic meridian. The first campaign was dedicated to detect medium-scale (~100 km) TIDs and was conducted at Huancayo, Peru in July 2008 using 3 GPS receivers spaced by 4-5 km arranged in a triangular configuration. TEC data corresponding to 3 consecutive days indicate that the TIDs phase velocity was close to 120 m/s and directed northward during the early evening hours. The second campaign was conducted in February 2009 using 3 GPS receivers installed near Ancon and coordinated with the VIPIR ionosonde running in an interferometer mode. We will discuss the implications of these new results within the frame of the current theories of plasma bubble onset.

ESA's constellation mission Swarm was successfully launched on 22 November 2013. The three satellites achieved their final constellation on 17 April 2014 and since then Swarm-A and Swarm-C orbiting the Earth at about 470 km (flying side-by-side) and Swarm-B at about 520 km altitude. The satellites carry instruments to monitor the F-region electron density with a sampling frequency of 2 Hz. This paper will present a detection algorithm for low-latitude post-sunset plasma bubbles (depletions), which uses local minima and maxima to detect depletions directly from electron density readings from Swarm. Our analyses were performed in the magnetic latitude (MLat) and local time (MLT) coordinate system. The detection procedure also captures the amplitude of depletion, which is called depth in the following. The width of a bubble corresponds to the length the satellite is located inside a depletion. We discuss the global distribution of depth and width of plasma bubbles and its seasonal and local time dependence for all three Swarm satellites from April 2015 through September 2015. As expected, on global average the bubble occurrence rate is highest for combined equinoxes (Mar, Apr, Sep, and Oct) and smallest for June solstice (May, Jun, Jul, and Aug). MLT distribution of the bubble occurrence number shows a sharp increase at about 19 MLT and decreases towards post-midnight hours. Interestingly, there is an inverse relation between depth and width of bubbles as function of MLT. This is true for all seasons and for all Swarm satellites. The bubble depth (width) is decreasing (increasing) from post-sunset to post-midnight for December solstice (Jan, Feb, Nov, and Dec) and combined equinoxes with about the same amplitude values for bubbles depth (width). Therefore we suggest that at post midnight when the depletions are less steep the structures of the depletions is broader than early after sunset. However for June solstice the depletions are less deep and the bubble depth and

Ionospheric storms manifest an extreme state of the ionosphere caused by geomagnetic storms, and the complicated ionospheric storm effects are always a research focus for the ionospheric community. The geomagnetic storm occurring on 17-20 March 2015, which is characterized by the minimum SYM-H value -233 nT, is an extremely event of space weather in the current 24th solar cycle. In this report, multiple observations including GPS total electron content (TEC), ionospheric parameters from ionosondes, and magnetometer data are used to investigate the profound ionospheric disturbances at lowlatitudes and equatorial regions during this geomagnetic storm. Through observation and analysis, the disturbed electric fields, which comprise penetration electric fields (PEFs) and disturbance dynamo electric fields (DDEFs), are closely related to the ionospheric storm effects at lowlatitudes and equatorial regions during this event. The decisive role of electrodynamics at equatorial regions are focused in view of these observations to understand the complete process of the low-latitude and equatorial ionospheric response during the great geomagnetic storm.

Examples of intensified EIA features temporally and spatially related to large earthquakes observed by satellites and GPS-TEC are introduced. The precursory, concurrent, and ex-post enhancements of EIA represented by the equatorial electron density, which are thought to be related to the M8.7 Northern Sumatra earthquake of March 2005, the M8.0 Pisco earthquake of August 2007, and the M7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake of 12 May 2008, are shown with space weather condition. Based on the case studies, statistical analysis on the ionospheric electron density data measured by the Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions satellite (DEMETER) over a period of 2005-2010 was executed in order to investigate the correlation between seismic activity and equatorial plasma density variations. To simplify the analysis, three equatorial regions with frequent earthquakes were selected and then one-dimensional time series analysis between the daily seismic activity indices and the EIA intensity indices were performed for each region with excluding the possible effects from the geomagnetic and solar activity. The statistically significant values of the lagged cross-correlation function, particularly in the region with minimal effects of longitudinal asymmetry, indicate that some of the very large earthquakes with M > 7.0 in the lowlatitude region can accompany observable seismo-ionospheric coupling phenomena in the form of EIA enhancements, even though the seismic activity is not the most significant driver of the equatorial ionospheric evolution. The physical mechanisms of the seismo-ionospheric coupling to explain the observation and the possibility of earthquake prediction using the EIA intensity variation are discussed.

Comparisons of two model results with Global Positioning System GPS-TEC measurements have been carried out for different latitudinal, solar activity, magnetic activity, diurnal and seasonal conditions. The models evaluated are the Global Core Plasma Model (GCPM-2000) and the IRI extension with Russian plasmasphere model (IRI*).Data of 23 observatories providing GPS-TEC and ionosonde data have been used. It is shown that IRI* plasmasphere electron density is greater than GCPM results by an order of magnitude at 6370 km altitude (one Earth's radius) with this excess growing to 2-3 orders of magnitude towards the GPS satellite altitude of 20000 km. Another source of model and GPS-TEC differences is a way of selection of the F2 layer peak parameters driving the models either with ITU-R (former CCIR) maps or ionosonde observations. Plasmasphere amendment to IRI improves accuracy of TEC model predictions because the plasmasphere contribution to the total TEC varies from 10% by daytime under quiet magnetic conditions to more than 50% by night under stormy conditions.

In recent years, there has been renewed activity in the study of local plasma density enhancements in the lowlatitude F region ionosphere (lowlatitude plasma blobs). Satellite, all-sky airglow imager, and radar measurements have identified the characteristics of these blobs, and their coupling to Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). New information related to blobs has also been obtained from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite. In this paper, we briefly review experimental, theoretical and modeling studies related to lowlatitude plasma blobs.

Detailed observations of the plasma structure and irregularities that characterize the topside ionosphere at sub-auroral, middle, and low-latitudes are gathered with probes on the DEMETER and DMSP satellites. In particular, we present DEMETER observations near 700 km altitude that reveal: (1) the electric field irregularities and density depletions at mid-latitudes are remarkably similar to those associated with equatorial spread-F at lowlatitudes; (2) the mid-latitude density structures contain both depletions and enhancements with scale lengths along the spacecraft trajectory that typically vary from 10's to 100's of km; (3) in some cases, ELF magnetic field irregularities are observed in association with the electric field irregularities on the walls of the plasma density structures and appear to be related to finely-structured spatial currents and/or Alfven waves; (4) during severe geomagnetic storms, broad regions of nightside plasma density structures are typically present, in some instances extending from the equator to the subauroral regions; and (5) intense, broadband electric and magnetic field irregularities are observed at sub-auroral latitudes during geomagnetic storm periods that are typically associated with the trough region. Data from successive DEMETER orbits during storm periods in both the daytime and nighttime illustrate how enhancements of both the ambient plasma density, as well as sub-auroral and mid-latitude density structures, correlate and evolve with changes in the Dst. The DEMETER data are compared with near simultaneous observations gathered by the DMSP satellites near 840 km. The observations are related to theories of sub-auroral and mid-latitude plasma density structuring during geomagnetic storms and penetration electric fields and are highly germane to understanding space weather effects regarding disruption of communication and navigation signals in the near-space environment.

This study presents Global Positioning System-Total Electron Content (GPS-TEC) observations over Addis Ababa (Lat: 9.03°N Lon: 38.77°E Mag. lat: 0.18°N) and an evaluation of the accuracy of International Reference Ionosphere-2012 (IRI-2012) model predictions during 2010-2013. Generally, on a diurnal scale, TEC recorded minimum values at 0400-0600 LT and maximum at 1400-1600 LT. Seasonally, TEC recorded maximum values during December solstice and September equinox, and minimum during June solstice. On a year-by-year basis, 2013 recorded the highest values of TEC for both the observed and the model measurements, while 2010 recorded the lowest, implying the solar activity dependence of TEC. Furthermore, we observed discrepancies in the comparison of the GPS-TEC measurements with those derived from IRI-2012 model, after the exclusion of the contributions of plasmaspheric electron content (PEC) from the GPS-observedTEC. All the three options of IRI-2012 model overestimated TEC during early morning and post-sunset hours. Comparatively, of the three options of IRI-2012 model, NeQuick appears to be the most accurate for TEC estimation over Addis Ababa, although at a very close performance capability with the IRI01 CORR option, while IRI2001 is the least accurate.

The ionosphere responds markedly and unpredictably to varying magnetospheric energy inputs caused by solar disturbances on the geospace. Knowledge of the impact of the space weather events on the ionosphere is important to assess the environmental effect on the operations of ground- and space-based technologies. Thus, global positioning system (GPS) measurements from the international GNSS service (IGS) database were used to investigate the ionospheric response to 56 geomagnetic storm events at six different latitudes comprising the northern and southern hemispheres in the Afro-European sector. Statistical distributions of total electron content (TEC) response show that during the main phase of the storms, enhancement of TEC is more pronounced in most of the seasons, regardless of the latitude and hemisphere. However, a strong seasonal dependence appears in the TEC response during the recovery phase. Depletion of TEC is majorly observed at the high latitude stations, and its appearance at lower latitudes is seasonally dependent. In summer hemisphere, the depletion of TEC is more pronounced in nearly all the latitudinal bands. In winter hemisphere, enhancement as well as depletion of TEC is observed over the high latitude, while enhancement is majorly observed over the mid and lowlatitudes. In equinoxes, the storm-time TEC distribution shows a fairly consistent characteristic with the summer distribution, particularly in the northern hemisphere.

The ionosphere responds markedly and unpredictably to varying magnetospheric energy inputs caused by solar disturbances on the geospace. Knowledge of the impact of the space weather events on the ionosphere is important to assess the environmental effect on the operations of ground- and space-based technologies. Thus, global positioning system (GPS) measurements from the international GNSS service (IGS) database were used to investigate the ionospheric response to 56 geomagnetic storm events at six different latitudes comprising the northern and southern hemispheres in the Afro-European sector. Statistical distributions of total electron content (TEC) response show that during the main phase of the storms, enhancement of TEC is more pronounced in most of the seasons, regardless of the latitude and hemisphere. However, a strong seasonal dependence appears in the TEC response during the recovery phase. Depletion of TEC is majorly observed at the high latitude stations, and its appearance at lower latitudes is seasonally dependent. In summer hemisphere, the depletion of TEC is more pronounced in nearly all the latitudinal bands. In winter hemisphere, enhancement as well as depletion of TEC is observed over the high latitude, while enhancement is majorly observed over the mid and lowlatitudes. In equinoxes, the storm-time TEC distribution shows a fairly consistent characteristic with the summer distribution, particularly in the northern hemisphere.

The effect of geomagnetic storms on lowlatitude ionosphere has been investigated with the help of Global Positioning System Total Electron Content (GPS-TEC) data. The investigation has been done with the aid of TEC data from the Indian equatorial region, Port Blair (PBR) and equatorial ionization anomaly region, Agartala (AGR). During the geomagnetic storms on 24th April and 15th July 2012, significant enhancement up to 150% and depression up to 72% in VTEC is observed in comparison to the normal day variation. The variations in VTEC observed from equatorial to EIA latitudes during the storm period have been explained with the help of electro-dynamic effects (prompt penetration electric field (PPEF) and disturbance dynamo electric field (DDEF)) as well as mechanical effects (storm-induced equatorward neutral wind effect and thermospheric composition changes). The current study points to the fact that the electro-dynamic effect of geomagnetic storms around EIA region is more effective than at the lower latitude region. Drastic difference has been observed over equatorial region (positive storm impact) and EIA region (negative storm impact) around same longitude sector, during storm period on 24th April. This drastic change as observed in GPS-TEC on 24th April has been further confirmed by using the O/N2 ratio data from GUVI (Global Ultraviolet Imager) as well as VTEC map constructed from IGS data. The results presented in the paper are important for the application of satellite-based communication and navigational system.

The ionospheric scintillation and TEC (Total Electron Content) variations are studied using GPS (Global Positioning System) measurements at an Indian lowlatitude station Surat (21.16°N, 72.78°E; Geomagnetic: 12.90°N, 147.35°E), situated near the northern crest of the equatorial anomaly region. The results are presented for data collected during the initial phase of current rising solar activity (low to moderate solar activity) period between January 2009 and December 2011. The results show that within a total number of 656 night-time scintillation events, 340 events are observed with TEC depletions, Rate of change of TEC (ROT) fluctuations and enhancement of Rate of change of TEC Index (ROTI). A comparison of night-time scintillation events from the considered period reveal strong correlation amongst the duration of scintillation activity in S4 index, TEC depletion, ROT fluctuations and ROTI enhancement in the year 2011, followed by the year 2010 and least in 2009. The statistical analyses of scintillation activity with enhancement of ROTI also show that about 70-96% scintillation activity took place in equinox and winter months. Moreover, from a nocturnal variation in occurrence of scintillation with (S4 ⩾ 0.2) and enhancement of ROTI with (ROTI ⩾ 0.5), a general trend of higher occurrence in pre-midnight hours of equinox and winter seasons is observed in both indices during the year 2011 and 2010, while no significant trend is observed in the year 2009. The results suggest the presence of F-region ionospheric irregularities with scale sizes of few kilometers and few hundred meters over Surat and are found to be influenced by solar and magnetic activity.

The DEMETER spacecraft frequently encounters structured plasma and electric field irregularities associated with equatorial spread-F. However, during severe geonagnetic storms, the spacecraft detects broader regions of density structures that extend to higher latitudes, in some instances to the sub-auroral regions. In addition to the electric field irregularities, ELF magnetic field irregularities are sometimes observed. for example, on the walls of the density structures, and appear related to finely-structured spatial currents and/or Alfven waves. The mid-latitude irregularities are compared with those of equatorial spread-F as well as wit11 intense irregularities associated with the trough region observed at sub-auroral latitudes.

Transitions from depletions to enhancements of 630.0 nm nighttime airglow have been observed at Arecibo. Numerical simulations by Krall et al. (2009) predicted that they should occur only in one hemisphere, which has not yet been confirmed observationally. In this study we investigate the hemispheric conjugacy of the depletion-to-enhancement transition using multiple instruments. We focus on one event observed in the American longitude sector on 22 December 2014: 630.0 nm airglow depletions evolved into enhancements in the Northern Hemisphere while the evolution did not occur in the conjugate location in the Southern Hemisphere. Concurrent plasma density measured by low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and 777.4 nm airglow images support that the depletions and enhancements of 630.0 nm nighttime airglow reflect plasma density decreases and increases (blobs), respectively. Characteristics of the airglow depletions, in the context of the LEO satellite data, further suggest that the plasma density depletion deduced from the airglow data represents equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) rather than medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances from midlatitudes. Hence, the event in this study can be interpreted as EPB-to-blob transition.

The Vector Electric Field Investigation (VEFI) on the C/NOFS equatorial satellite provides a unique data set which includes detailed measurements of irregularities associated with the equatorial ionosphere and in particular with spread-F depletions. We present vector AC electric field observations gathered on C/NOFS that address a variety of key questions regarding how plasma irregularities, from meter to kilometer scales, are created and evolve. The talk focuses on occasions where the ionosphere F-peak has been elevated above the C/NOFS satellite perigee of 400 km as solar activity has increased. In particular, during the equinox periods of 2011, the satellite consistently journeyed below the F-peak whenever the orbit was in the region of the South Atlantic anomaly after sunset. During these passes, data from the electric field and plasma density probes on the satellite have revealed two types of instabilities which had not previously been observed in the C/NOFS data set: The first is evidence for 400-500km-scale bottomside "undulations" that appear in the density and electric field data. In one case, these large scale waves are associated with a strong shear in the zonal E x B flow, as evidenced by variations in the meridional (outward) electric fields observed above and below the F-peak. These undulations are devoid of smaller scale structures in the early evening, yet appear at later local times along the same orbit associated with fully-developed spread-F with smaller scale structures. This suggests that they may be precursor waves for spread-F, driven by a collisional shear instability, following ideas advanced previously by researchers using data from the Jicamarca radar. A second result is the appearance of km-scale irregularities that are a common feature in the electric field and plasma density data that also appear when the satellite is near or below the F-peak at night. The vector electric field instrument on C/NOFS clearly shows that the electric field

In this study, 30 storm sudden commencement (SSC) events during the period 2001-2007 for which daytime vertical E × B drift velocities from JULIA radar, Jicamarca (geographic latitude 11.91°S, geographic longitude 283.11°E, 0.81°N dip latitude), Peru and ΔH component of geomagnetic field measured as the difference between the magnitudes of the horizontal (H) components between two magnetometers deployed at two different locations Jicamarca (geographic latitude 11.91°S, geographic longitude 283.11°E, 0.81°N dip latitude) and Piura (geographic latitude 5.21°S, geographic longitude 279.41°E, 6.81°N dip latitude), in Peru, were considered. It is observed that a positive correlation exists between peak value of daytime vertical E × B drift velocity and peak value of ΔH for the three consecutive days of SSC. A qualitative analysis made after selecting the peak values of daytime vertical E × B drift velocity and ΔH showed that 57% of the events have daytime vertical E × B drift velocity peak in the magnitude range 20-30 m/s and 63% of the events have ΔH peak in the range 80-100 nT. The maximum probable (45%) range of time of occurrence of peak value for both vertical E × B drift velocity and ΔH during the daytime hours were found to be the same, i.e., 10:00-12:00 LT. A strong positive correlation was also found to exist between the daytime vertical E × B drift velocity and ΔH for all the three consecutive days of SSC, for all the events considered. To establish a quantitative relationship between day time vertical E × B drift velocity and ΔH, linear and polynomial (order 2 and 3) regression analysis (Least Square Method (LSM)) were carried out, considering the fully disturbed day after the commencement of the storm as ‘disturbed period’ for the SSC events selected for analysis. The formulae indicating the relationship between daytime vertical E × B drift velocity and ΔH, for the ‘disturbed periods’, obtained through the regression analysis

The Remote Equatorial Nighttime Observatory of Ionospheric Regions (RENOIR) experiment comprises a suite of instruments operating in northeastern Brazil at Cajazeiras (6.86°S, 38.56°W) and Cariri (7.38°S, 36.53°W) since 2009. This experiment consists of a wide-angle imaging system at Cajazeiras and Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) at each site. As part of a separate experiment, two FPIs were deployed in western Peru at Merihill (11.96°S, 76.86°W) and Nazca (14.97°S, 74.89°W) in 2010. In this presentation, we discuss the results obtained from these experiments. When operating individually, each FPI provides measurements of the zonal or meridional neutral winds in the cardinal look directions. A second mode is available, the common volume mode, in which two FPIs (in either Brazil or Peru) make coordinated and collocated measurements of both the zonal and meridional winds. Using the resultant data, we present the climatology of thermospheric neutral winds during the transition from the deep solar minimum to the impending solar maximum conditions from both the east and west coasts of South America. Furthermore, we discuss the coupling between the thermosphere and ionosphere through an analysis of coincident observations of the zonal neutral winds and the drift velocities of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). The results show the neutral winds and EPB drift velocities agree well, illustrating that the F-region dynamo is, in general, fully developed. However, in the early evening hours, the EPB drift velocity is slower than that of the neutral winds on several occasions suggesting the F-region dynamo is not fully activated during the development phase of the EPBs.

Lowlatitude middle atmosphere ionization was studied with data obtained from three blunt conductivity probes and one Gerdien condenser. An investigation was conducted into the effects of various ionization sources in the 40 to 65 Km altitude range. An observed enhancement of positive ion conductivity taking place during the night can be explained by an atmsopheric effect, with cosmic rays being the only source of ionization only if the ion-ion recombination coefficient (alpha sub i) is small(10 to the -7 power cu cm/s) and varies greatly with altitude. More generally accepted values of alpha sub i ( approximately equal to 3x10 to the -7 power cu cm/s) require an additional source of ionization peaking at about 65 Km, and corresponding approximately to the integrated effect of an X-ray flux measured on a rocket flown in conjunction with the ionization measurements. The reasonable assumption of an alpha sub i which does not vary with altitude in the 50-70 Km range implies an even greater value alpha sub i and a more intense and harder X-ray spectrum.

This paper investigates the variations of vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) at Manado, Indonesia (geographic coordinates : lat 1.34 ° S and long 124.82 ° E) for period 2013. The GPS measured TEC is compared with the TEC derived from the IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) 2012 model. Vertical TEC measurements obtained from dual frequency GPS receiver that is GISTM (GPS Ionospheric Scintillations and TEC monitor). Variation of TEC validate to IRI 2012 model at Manado station has been compared with the model for three different topside of electron density namely NeQuick, IRI-01-Corr and IRI2001.There is a need to investigation on diurnal, seasonal variations, solar activity dependence of TEC and including effects of space weather related events to TEC and modeling of TEC. In this paper, diurnal and seasonal variations of VTEC and the effect of VTEC due to space weather events like Geomagnetic storms are analyzed. The result show that the TEC prediction using IRI-2001 model overestimated the GPS TEC measurements, while IRI-NeQuick and IRI-01-corr show a tendency to underestimates the observedTEC during the day time particularly in lowlatitude region in the maximum solar activity period (2013). The variations of VTEC during 17th March, 2013, 29th June, 2013 storms are analyzed. During 17th March,2013 storm enhancement in VTEC with Kp value 6 and Disturbance storm index (DST) -132 nT. During 29th June, 2013 storm VTEC depletion with value 7 and DST -98 nT. Significant deviations in VTEC during the main phase of the storms are observed. It is found that the response of ionospheric TEC consist of effects of both enhancement and depletions in ionospheric structures (positive and negative storm). Keywords: TEC ionosphere, GPS, GISTM, IRI 2012 model, solar activity, geomagnetic storm

We present 1.1 mm observations of the dust continuum emission from the MBM12 high-latitude molecular cloud observed with the Astronomical Thermal Emission Camera (AzTEC) mounted on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. We surveyed 6.34 deg{sup 2} centered on MBM12, making this the largest area that has ever been surveyed in this region with submillimeter and millimeter telescopes. Eight secure individual sources were detected with a signal-to-noise ratio of over 4.4. These eight AzTEC sources can be considered to be real astronomical objects compared to the other candidates based on calculations of the false detection rate. The distribution of the detected 1.1 mm sources or compact 1.1 mm peaks is spatially anti-correlated with that of the 100 {mu}m emission and the {sup 12}CO emission. We detected the 1.1 mm dust continuum emitting sources associated with two classical T Tauri stars, LkH{alpha}262 and LkH{alpha}264. Observations of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) indicate that LkH{alpha}262 is likely to be Class II (pre-main-sequence star), but there are also indications that it could be a late Class I (protostar). A flared disk and a bipolar cavity in the models of Class I sources lead to more complicated SEDs. From the present AzTECobservations of the MBM12 region, it appears that other sources detected with AzTEC are likely to be extragalactic and located behind MBM12. Some of these have radio counterparts and their star formation rates are derived from a fit of the SEDs to the photometric evolution of galaxies in which the effects of a dusty interstellar medium have been included.

The TIMEGCM is a global 1st principles model of the ionosphere-thermosphere I-T system with fully coupled and interactive ionospheric and thermospheric components The model requires a specification of the high latitude electric potential distribution for each time step along with specification of the auroral particle precipitation Each of these parameters is obtained by use of the AMIE Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics technique which assimilates data from nearly 200 ground-based magnetometers several DMSP satellites and the SuperDARN radar network In this paper we compare ionospheric observations from two low-latitude ionospheric sounding stations with predictions from the TIMEGCM during the super geomagnetic storm of 20 November 2003 The super geomagnetic storm with SSC at 08 03 UT on 20 November attained vert Dst vert max 472 nT at 20 00 UT 20 11 The digital ionosondes using the Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosondes CADIs are located at Palmas PAL 10 2 r S 48 2 r W dip latitude 5 5 r S a near equatorial station and S a o Jos e dos Campos SJC 23 2 r S 45 9 r W dip latitude 17 6 r S station located under the crest of equatorial ionospheric anomaly Brazil Comparisons of model predictions with ionospheric observations during intense geomagnetic disturbances are important studies related to space weather forecasting Salient features from this comparative study are presented and discussed in this paper

The ionospheric equivalent slab thickness (EST) is the ratio of total electron content (TEC) to F2-layer peak electron density (NmF2), describing the thickness of the ionospheric profile. In this study, we retrieve EST from Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) TEC data and NmF2 retrieved from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) ionospheric radio occultation data. The diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations of global EST are analyzed as the excellent spatial coverage of JPL TEC and COSMIC data. During solstices, daytime EST in the summer hemisphere is larger than that in the winter hemisphere, except in some high-latitude regions; and the reverse is true for the nighttime EST. The peaks of EST often appear at 0400 local time. The pre-sunrise enhancement in EST appears in all seasons, while the post-sunset enhancement in EST is not readily observed in equinox. The dependence of EST on solar activity is very complicated. Furthermore, an interesting phenomenon is found that EST is enhanced from 0° to 120° E in longitude and 30° to 75° S in latitude during nighttime, just to the east of Weddell Sea Anomaly, during equinox and southern hemisphere summer.

During the sequence of observations made by Cassini CIRS from 2004 to the present, supporting observations of Saturn have been made in the same spectral region. Most of these were taken at NASA's 3-m Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), but they were supplemented by observations from the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope. An examination of temperature field retrieved from form spacecraft and earth-based observations has required us to assess carefully the limitation of vertical sensitivity for the ground-based images and the calibration of both geometry and absolute radiance. Keeping those limitations in mind, the combination of the two data sets has provided evidence that is consistent with the absence of effective cloud opacity in the mid- and far-infrared. Furthermore, the full sequence of ground-based imaging stretches back as early as 1990. These observations clearly indicate the expected hemispherically antisymmetric seasonal forcing, but with relaxation times considerably shorter than the 9-year scales in both the stratosphere and upper troposphere expected from gaseous constituents alone. An important non- seasonal effect was also noted in the long-term behavior of the equator and low-latitude regions which undergo a periodic oscillation with an alternating phases of thermal waves at the equator and at latitudes 5-25 degrees poleward in both hemispheres over a period of 20 years or longer. The observed behavior is consistent with the different stratospheric temperature profiles of these regions. This phenomenon is best explained by the presence of upwelling thermal waves which are similar to the Earth's quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and Jupiter's quasi-quadrennial oscillation (QQO).

This paper presents statistical characteristics (occurrence rate, amplitude, and frequency) of low-frequency (<100 mHz) variations in total electron content (TEC) observed in the polar cap ionosphere. TEC variations were primarily associated with mesoscale (tens to hundreds of kilometers) ionization structures and were observed by five Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers over a 6 year period (2009-2014). The altitude of ionization structures was estimated by using colocated ionosonde radars. High data rate receivers combined with broad spatial coverage of multisatellite TEC measurements provided high-resolution magnetic local time/latitude maps of TEC variation characteristics, which were examined as a function of solar cycle and season. These high-resolution maps improve upon the current observational picture of mesoscale structuring in the polar cap and provide accurate links to particular magnetospheric source regions. Occurrence of TEC variations was consistently highest in dayside regions mapping to lowlatitude and plasma mantle boundary layers, while largest-amplitude TEC variations were observed in dayside regions close to the polar cusp, and lower latitudes around midnight. Occurrence and amplitude of TEC variations increased significantly during the ascending phase of the solar cycle, independent of solar wind conditions, while seasonal statistics showed highest dayside occurrence and amplitude in winter months, lowest in summer, and highest nightside occurrence and amplitude around equinox. A surprising result in the frequency distributions of TEC variations was discrete frequencies of about 2 and 4 mHz, which appeared to originate from regions corresponding to the plasma mantle, immediately poleward of the polar cusp.

Two plasmasphere extensions of the International Reference Ionosphere are made available for the users. It is aimed to estimate the effect of charged particles on technical devices in the Earth's environment and to define the ionosphere-plasmasphere operational conditions compatible with existing and future systems of radio communication, radio navigation and other relevant radio technologies in the ranges of medium and higher frequencies. The Global Core Plasma Model (GCPM-2000) of Gallagher et al. (2000) is an empirical description of thermal plasma densities in the plasmasphere, plasmapause, magnetospheric trough, and polar cap. GCPM-2000 uses the Kp index and is coupled to IRI in the transition region 500-600 km. The IZMIRAN plasmasphere model (Chasovitin et al., 1998; Gulyaeva et al., 2002) is an empirical model based on whistler and satellite observations. It presents global vertical analytical profiles of electron density smoothly fitted to IRI electron density profile at 1000 km altitude and extended towards the plasmapause (up to 36,000 km). For the smooth fitting of the two models, the shape of the IRI topside electron density profile is improved using ISIS 1, ISIS 2, and IK19 satellite inputs (Gulyaeva, 2003). The plasmasphere model depends on solar activity and magnetic activity (kp-index). The two IRI plasmasphere extensions are compared in the present study with the total electron content derived from records of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS-TEC) observations for different latitudinal, solar activity, magnetic activity, diurnal and seasonal conditions. The differences of model TEC with observedTEC in the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere are discussed.

LISN is an array of small instruments that operates as a real-time distributed observatory to understand the complex day-to-day variability and the extreme state of disturbance that occurs in the South American low-latitude ionosphere nearly every day after sunset. The LISN observatory aims to forecast the initiation and transport of plasma bubbles across the South American continent. The occurrence of this type of plasma structures and their embedded irregularities poses a prominent natural hazard to communication, navigation and high precision pointing systems. As commercial and military aviation is increasingly reliant on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) any interruption due to ionospheric irregularities or errors due to large density gradients constitutes a serious threat to passengers and crew. Therefore, it is important to understand the conditions and sources that contribute to the formation of these irregularities. To achieve high quality regional nowcasts and forecasts, the LISN system was designed to include a dense coverage of the South American landmass with 47 GPS receivers, 5 flux-gate magnetometers distributed on 2 base lines and 3 Vertical Incidence Pulsed Ionospheric Radar (VIPIR) ionosondes deployed along the same magnetic meridian that intersects the magnetic equator at 68° W. This presentation will provide a summary of recent instrument installations and new processing techniques that have been developed under the LISN project. We will also present the results of recent efforts to detect TIDs and TEC plasma depletions on a near real-time basis. We will describe a method to estimate the zonal velocity and tilt of the plasma bubbles/depletions by combining observations of TEC depletions acquired with adjacent receivers, making it possible to predict precisely their future locations.

In this study, empirical models of occurrence of ionospheric irregularities over lowlatitude African region during geomagnetic storms have been developed. The geomagnetic storms considered consisted of Dst ≤ -50 nT. GNSS-derived ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) data over Libreville, Gabon (NKLG) (0.35° N, 9.68° E, geographic, 8.05° S, magnetic) and Malindi, Kenya (MAL2) (2.99° S, 40.19° E, geographic, 12.42° S, magnetic) during 2000 - 2014 were used. Ionospheric irregularities at scale- lengths of a few kilometers and ˜400 m were represented with the rate of change of TEC index (ROTI). The inputs for the models are the local time, solar flux index, Auroral Electrojet index, day of the year, and the Dst index, while the output is the median ROTI during these given conditions. To develop the models, the ROTI index values were binned based on the input parameters and cubic B splines were then fitted to the binned data. Developed models using data over NKLG and MAL2 were validated with independent data over stations within 510 km and 680 km radius, respectively. The models captured the enhancements and inhibitions of the occurrence of the ionospheric irregularities during the storm period. The models even emulated these patterns in the various seasons, during medium and high solar activity conditions. The correlation coefficients for the validations were statistically significant and ranged from 0.58 - 0.73, while the percentage of the variance in the observed data explained by the modelled data ranged from 34 - 53.

The ionospheric equivalent slab thickness (EST), defined as the ratio of total electron content (TEC) to F2 layer peak electron density (NmF2), describes the thickness of the ionospheric profile. In this study, we retrieve EST from TEC data obtained from Global Ionospheric Map (GIM) and NmF2 retrieved from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) ionospheric radio occultation data. The diurnal, seasonal, and solar activity variations of global EST are analyzed as the excellent spatial coverage of GIM and COSMIC data. During solstices, daytime EST in the summer hemisphere is larger than that in the winter hemisphere, except in some high-latitude regions, and the reverse is true for the nighttime EST. The peaks of EST often appear at 0400 local time. The presunrise enhancement in EST appears in all seasons, while the postsunset enhancement in EST is not readily observed in equinox. Both enhancements are attributed to the more remarkable electron density decay of NmF2 compared to that of TEC. The dependence of EST on solar activity is related to the inconsistent solar activity dependences of electron density at different altitudes. Furthermore, it is interesting that EST is enhanced from 0° to 120°E in longitude and 30° to 75°S in latitude during nighttime, just to the east of Weddell Sea Anomaly, during equinox and the Southern Hemisphere summer. This phenomenon is supposed to be related to the effects of geomagnetic declination-related plasma vertical drifts.

The authors describe work to detect field line resonances, or the observation of Pc 3-5 geomagnetic pulsation events, at lowlatitude sites. These signals are extracted from ground based magnetometer arrays. The authors found one field line resonance structure in 5 weeks of data at L=1.8. At L=2.8 they were able to observe up to 4 harmonics concurrently. They compare these frequency spectra with the results of two different models of the plasma density in the lower ionosphere.

The response of the ionospheric F region over Indian low-latitude regions to the annular solar eclipse of 15 January 2010 is investigated. The foF2 corresponding to an electron density increase of ˜21% at the F2 peak is seen over Gadanki (13.5°N, 79°E) during the course of the eclipse in comparison with the control day behavior. After the peak phase the foF2 shows a large decrease (˜19%) compared to the mean control day pattern. The total electron content (TEC) at Bangalore (13°N, 78°E) which is located very close to Gadanki is expected to follow a similar pattern of temporal evolution. This TEC shows reduction with respect to control day both at the peak phase (17%) and in the postpeak phase (30%). The enhanced foF2 from the start to the peak phase of the eclipse is attributed to the effect of the weakened equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA). At altitude regions below 270 km, the eclipse induced cutoff of solar insolation results in chemical recombination becoming dominant and thus contributes to the decrease in columnar content in spite of foF2 increase. The post peak phase steep decrease of both foF2 and TEC is attributed to the substantial increase in the poleward meridional winds, the inhibition of the EIA, and persistent depletion in the lower-altitude electron densities. In summary, this study demonstrates the modifications in electrodynamics, recombination, and neutral dynamics acting in concert to produce the observed effects at lowlatitudes during an eclipse.

Using network of GPS receiver stations in North and South America, we have recently observed fast-moving continent-size traveling plasma disturbances in the mapped total electron content (TEC) data. These space plasma disturbances occurred at the beginning of geomagnetic storms, immediately after the storm's suddent commencement (SSC) and prior to the appearance of large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs) from the auroral regions. More specifically, these supersize TEC perturbations were observed when the IMF Bz was oscillating between northward and southward directions. They were found to propagate zonally westward with a propagation speed of 2-3 km/s, if projected onto an ionospheric-equivalent altitude of 350 km. Based on their general characteristics and comparison with ground-based ionosonde data, we interpret these TEC pulsations as ion drift waves in the magnetosphere/plasmasphere that propagate azimuthally inside the GPS orbit.

Ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and scintillations have been recorded continuously since January 2009 using a dual frequency GPS receiver at Varanasi, India (geographic lat. 25.30 N, long. 82.990 E). The trajectory of a GPS satellite plays an important role in observing the bubble characteristics. The GPS data with a sampling interval of 60 s were analyzed to determine TEC, the rate of change of TEC (ROT) and as well as ROTI, defined as the standard deviation of ROT. In this work we compare the S4 index of GPS scintillations with the ROTI values and there by investigated the evolution of large and small scale irregularities at scale length of few kilometers and 400 m respectively observed at lowlatitude station Varanasi. The effects of geomagnetic activity and geomagnetic storm on the generation of bubbles are studied using Kp index and Dst index respectively. Kew words: GPS, Plasma bubble, ROT, ROTI

This paper presents the interrelationship between the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) strength, Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived total electron content (TEC), and postsunset scintillation from ground observations with the aim of finding reliable precursors of the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities. Mutual relationship studies provide a possible route to predict the occurrence of TEC fluctuation and scintillation in the ionosphere during the late afternoon and night respectively based on daytime measurement of the equatorial ionosphere. Data from ground based observations in the lowlatitudes of the west American longitude sector were examined during the 2008 solar minimum. We find a strong relationship exists between the noontime equatorial electrojet and GPS-derived TEC distributions during the afternoon mediated by vertical E × B drift via the fountain effect, but there is little or no relationship with postsunset ionospheric scintillation.

The Total electron Content (TEC), derivate from GPS, becomes one of the most powerful techniques to study the space-time ionospheric (F-region) electrodynamics, during the quiet and disturbed periods. The number of GPS stations in Brazil increased significantly during the last few years; currently more than 100 GPS stations are in operation over the Brazilian region. The GPS-TEC values are derived using the differential delay technique from the dual frequency measurements at L1 and L2 frequencies over the considered locations at equatorial and lowlatitudes. The present study investigates the ionospheric total electron content (GPS-TEC) response in the Southern Hemisphere equatorial and lowlatitudes, due to major and minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events, which took place during 2009 and 2012. During both the SSW events, the TEC values are depleted to the order of 20-30% all over the Brazil from equator to beyond Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) regions. In addition, the EIA were suppressed during the SSW events for several days. However, the TEC depletion and EIA suppression lasted for a longer period during SSW-2012 when compared with the SSW-2009; despite the SSW-2012 is considerd as a minor event.

We investigate the influence of assumed height for the thin shell ionosphere model on the Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from a small scale Global Positioning System (GPS) network. TEC and instrumental bias are determined by applying a grid-based algorithm to the data on several geomagnetically quiet days covering a 10 month period in 2006. Comparisons of TEC and instrumental bias are made among assumed heights from 250 km to 700 km with an interval of 10 km. While the TEC variations with time follow the same trend, TEC tends to increase with the height of the thin shell. The difference in TEC between heights 250 km and 700 km can be as large as ∼ 8 TECU in both daytime and nighttime. The times at which the TEC reaches its peak or valley do not vary much with the assumed heights. The instrumental biases, especially bias from the satellite, can vary irregularly with assumed height. Several satellites show a large deviation of ∼ 3 ns for heights larger than 550 km. The goodness of fit for different assumed heights is also examined. The data can be generally well-fitted for heights from 350 km to 700 km. A large deviation happens at heights lower than 350 km. Using the grid-based algorithm, there is no consensus on assumed height as related to data fitting. A thin shell height in the range 350 – 500 km can be a reasonable compromise between data fitting and peak height of the ionosphere.

Ionospheric scintillation occurs mainly at high and lowlatitude regions of the Earth and may impose serious degradation on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) functionality. The Brazilian territory sits on one of the most affected areas of the globe, where the ionosphere behaves very unpredictably, with strong scintillation frequently occurring in the local postsunset hours. The correlation between scintillation occurrence and sharp variations in the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) in Brazil is demonstrated in Spogli et al. (2013). The compounded effect of these associated ionospheric disturbances on long baseline GNSS kinematic positioning is studied in this paper, in particular when ionospheric maps are used to aid the positioning solution. The experiments have been conducted using data from GNSS reference stations in Brazil. The use of a regional TEC map generated under the CALIBRA (Countering GNSS high-Accuracy applications Limitations due to Ionospheric disturbances in BRAzil) project, referred to as CALIBRA TEC map (CTM), was compared to the use of the Global Ionosphere Map (GIM), provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). Results show that the use of the CTM greatly improves the kinematic positioning solution as compared with that using the GIM, especially under disturbed ionospheric conditions. Additionally, different hypotheses were tested regarding the precision of the TEC values obtained from ionospheric maps, and its effect on the long baseline kinematic solution evaluated. Finally, this study compares two interpolation methods for ionospheric maps, namely, the Inverse Distance Weight and the Natural Neighbor.

The East African ionosphere (3°S-18°N, 32°E-50°E) was mapped using Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from ground-based GPS receivers situated at Asmara, Mekelle, Bahir Dar, Robe, Arbaminch, and Nairobi. Assuming a thin shell ionosphere at 350 km altitude, we project the Ionospheric Pierce Point (IPP) of a slant TEC measurement with an elevation angle of >10° to its corresponding location on the map. We then infer the estimated values at any point of interest from the vertical TEC values at the projected locations by means of interpolation. The total number of projected IPPs is in the range of 24-66 at any one time. Since the distribution of the projected IPPs is irregularly spaced, we have used an inverse distance weighted interpolation method to obtain a spatial grid resolution of 1°×1° latitude and longitude, respectively. The TEC maps were generated for the year 2008, with a 2 hr temporal resolution. We note that TEC varies diurnally, with a peak in the late afternoon (at 1700 LT), due to the equatorial ionospheric anomaly. We have observed higher TEC values at lowlatitudes in both hemispheres compared to the magnetic equatorial region, capturing the ionospheric distribution of the equatorial anomaly. We have also confirmed the equatorial seasonal variation in the ionosphere, characterized by minimum TEC values during the solstices and maximum values during the equinoxes. We evaluate the reliability of the map, demonstrating a mean error (difference between the measured and interpolated values) range of 0.04-0.2 TECU (Total Electron Content Unit). As more measured TEC values become available in this region, the TEC map will be more reliable, thereby allowing us to study in detail the equatorial ionosphere of the African sector, where ionospheric measurements are currently very few.

MISW (Mitigation of space weather threats to GNSS services) is an EU/FP7 project with the purpose of tackling the research challenges associated with Space Weather effects on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). In particular, the objective of MISW is to develop suitable algorithms capable of enabling Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (e.g. EGNOS) in the low-latitude African sector. For this purpose, MISW has created a detailed picture of extreme space weather events that occurred in the past and in the current solar cycle. Despite its weakness, the current solar cycle exhibited two superstorms that happened during the descending phase, in March and in June 2015. The latter has been studied in detail through a careful analysis of GNSS data acquired by TEC (Total Electron Content) and scintillation monitors and by IGS and regional geodetic networks located in Europe and in Africa. The investigation enabled creating the actual scenarios of TEC gradients and scintillation that occurred over a wide latitudinal extent between 21 and 30 June 2015. The investigation is based on calibrated TEC from different receivers, aiming at the estimation of east-west and north-south TEC gradients and on the integration of calibrated TEC and TEC gradients with the scintillation data. The impact of the storm on GNSS performance has also been investigated in terms of losses of lock. The results of this study highlight the importance of assessing the latitudinal and the longitudinal TEC gradients as crucial information to identify to what extent different ionospheric sectors are severely affected by scintillation. On the other hand, this study also shows evidences of how TEC gradients are not always responsible for the observed scintillation. Finally, the outcomes of the study demonstrate the complex relation between scintillation, TEC gradients and losses of GNSS satellites lock.

Single-frequency users of a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) rely on ionospheric models to mitigate the delay due to the ionosphere. The ionosphere is the major source of range and range rate errors for users of the Global Positioning System (GPS) who require high-accuracy positioning. The purpose of the present study is to develop a tomography model to reconstruct the total electron content (TEC) over the low-latitude Indian region which lies in the equatorial ionospheric anomaly belt. In the present study, the TEC data collected from the six TEC collection stations along a longitudinal belt of around 77 degrees are used. The main objective of the study is to find out optimum pixel size which supports a better reconstruction of the electron density and hence the TEC over the low-latitude Indian region. Performance of two reconstruction algorithms Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) and Multiplicative Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (MART) is analyzed for different pixel sizes varying from 1 to 6 degrees in latitude. It is found from the analysis that the optimum pixel size is 5° × 50 km over the Indian region using both ART and MART algorithms.

Venus is shrouded in a dense CO2 atmosphere that prevents us from viewing the surface in visible light or with optronic sensors. Long wavelengths are required to 'see' through the dense atmosphere. In the early 1990s, the S-band synthetic aperture radar of the Magellan spacecraft acquired images of a variety of surface features on Venus, including morphologies attributed to wind processes. These include sand dunes, wind-sculpted hills (yardangs), and almost 6000 wind streaks. These aeolian landscapes were formed and shaped by near surface atmospheric circulation and local winds. These can serve as local markers, each providing an integrated wind direction. Since the Magellan mission, there were no missions to Venus until the Venus Express Mission of 2005 to examine the upper atmosphere. The future will probably include high-resolution SAR images of Venus. This poster will demonstrate high resolution SAR images in X-band from the TecSAR sensor launched by Israel in 2008. Observations of wind streaks, dunes and impact craters in desert areas will show the wealth of information that is extracted from high-res X-band data. Detailed images of Aurounga impact crater in Chad, Kelso dunes, California and Pisgah lava flow show immense detail of the morphologies associated with these features. These are compared with Magellan images of sites on Venus and SRL data in C and L-bands. The X-band provides extremely high resolution and resembles optical data much more than the longer wavelengths.

Using magnetic field data obtained by the Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP), we show global and frequent appearance of small-amplitude (1 to 5 nT on the dayside) magnetic fluctuations with period around a few tens of seconds along the satellite orbit in middle and lowlatitudes. They are different from known phenomena, such as the Pc3 pulsations. The following characteristics are presented and discussed in this paper: (1) The magnetic fluctuations are perpendicular to the geomagnetic main field, and the amplitude of the zonal (east-west) component is larger than that of the meridional component in general. (2) As latitude becomes lower around the dip equator, the period tends to become longer. (3) The amplitudes have clear local time dependence, which is highly correlated to the ionospheric conductivities in local time (LT) 06-18. (4) The amplitude of the fluctuations shows magnetic conjugacy to a certain extent. (5) The amplitude shows no dependence on solar wind parameters nor geomagnetic activity. (6) A seasonal dependence is seen clearly. The amplitudes in the northern summer and winter are larger than those in the equinoxes. In the northern summer, the amplitudes above the Eurasian and South American continents and their conjugate areas are larger. In the northern winter, those above the eastern Pacific Ocean are larger. We suggest that the above characteristics, (1) to (6), can be attributed to the small spatial scale field-aligned currents having a lower atmospheric origin through the ionospheric dynamo process.

We studied the response of the ionosphere (F-region) in the Brazilian sector during extreme space weather event of 17 March 2015 using a large network of 102 GPS-TEC stations. It is observed that the Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) was severely disturbed during the storm main and recovery phases. A wavelike oscillation with three peaks was observed in the TEC diurnal variation from equator to lowlatitudes during the storm main phase on 17th and 18th March, 2015. The latitudinal extent of the wavelike oscillation peaks decreased from the beginning of main phase towards the recovery phase. The first peak extended from beyond 0S to 30S, the second occurred from 6S to 25S, whereas the third diurnal peaks was confined from 13S to 25S. In addition, a strong negative phase in VTEC variations was observed during the recovery phase on March 18-19, 2015. This ionospheric negative phase was stronger at low-latitudes than in the equatorial region. Also, two latitudinal chains of GPS-TEC stations from equatorial region to lowlatitudes in the East and West Brazilian sectors are used to investigate the storm time behavior of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) in the East and West Brazilian sectors. We observed an anomalous behavior in EIA caused by the wavelike oscillations during the storm main phase on 17 March, and suppression of the EIA, resulting from the negative phase in VTEC, in the storm recovery phase.

The Digisonde first results from Tucuman (26.9^o S, 65.4^o W) and TEC obtained by Global Positioning System (GPS) are used to compare the observations with IRI predictions. The data were registered during November-December 2002 day to day. The comparison is made for the F region parameters NmF2, hmF2 and TEC and for true height profiles as well. The analysis, based on quietest days during the data period, shows that while IRI provides realistic profiles during daytime hours, it seems to underestimate the bottomside electron density during the early morning and late afternoon hours. The F-layer peak density obtained are underestimated for most of the nighttime hours during summer months. Comparative study of TEC indicates that the IRI underestimate significantly measured TEC during daytime on this period. This discrepancy between the IRI and observations has been reported at other lowlatitude stations even for low solar activity. When we look to ionospheric slab thickness, discrepancy between the IRI and observations due to the discrepancy in the topside profile is minus serius than in TEC.

This paper presents an investigation of geomagnetic storm effects in the equatorial and lowlatitude F-region in the Brazilian sector during the intense geomagnetic storm on 18 August, 2003 (SSC 14:21 UT on 17/08; ΣKp = 52+; Ap = 108; ∣Dst∣ max = 168 at 1600 UT on 18/08). Simultaneous ionospheric sounding measurements from two stations, viz., Palmas (10.2°S, 48.2°W; dip latitude 5.7°S) and Sao Jose dos Campos (23.2°S, 45.9°W; dip latitude 17.6°S), Brazil, are presented for the nights of 16-17, 17-18 and 18-19 August, 2003 (quiet, disturbed and recovery phases). Both stations are equipped with the Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde (CADI). Quiet and disturbed conditions of the F-region ionosphere are compared using data collected from the two stations. The relationship between magnetospheric disturbance and low-latitude ionospheric dynamics, and generation of ionospheric irregularities are discussed. On the disturbed nights (17-18 and 18-19 August), the lowlatitude station S. J. Campos showed strong enhancements in the F-region critical frequency (foF2), whereas the near equatorial station Palmas showed strong uplifting of the F-layer about 1 h earlier. Normally during the June solstice months (May-August) in the Brazilian sector, large-scale ionospheric irregularities in form of plasma bubbles are rarely observed. On the night of 17-18 August, ionsospheric sounding observations at Palmas showed the presence of bottomside spread-F, whereas on the night of 18-19 August, the observations at Palmas and S. J. Campos showed the presence of plasma bubbles when the storm recovery phase had just started. The complementary GPS data available from several stations in the "Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Continuo de GPS (Brazilian Network for Continuous GPS Monitoring)" are used to obtain the vertical total electron content (VTEC) and the rate of change of TEC per minute on UT days 18 and 19 August, 2003 and presented. Also, several global ionospheric TEC maps

The total electron content (TEC) is an important parameter to monitor for possible space weather impacts. The radio waves that pass through the earth's ionosphere travel more slowly than their free space velocity due to group path delay of the ionosphere. This group path delay is directly proportional to the TEC of the ionosphere. Using dual frequency GPS receiver at lowlatitude stations of Ile-Ife (7.52oN, 4.28oE), Addis Ababa (9.04oN, 38.77oE) and Bangalore (13.03oE, 77.57oE), all located within 0 - 15oN of the equatorial anomaly region, the measurement of ionospheric TEC for 2012 has been carried out. The data from the three stations were used to study the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variations of TEC. The diurnal variations maximize between 10:00 - 16:00UT, 08:00 - 14:00UT and 06:00 - 12:00UT for Ile-Ife, Addis Ababa and Bangalore stations respectively. The diurnal variations showed wave-like pertubation during disturbed and quiet periods at Bangalore and Addis Ababa stations. The monthly average TEC variations showed that the month of March recorded the highest TEC value of ~59TECu at about 16:00UT in Ile-Ife station, while TEC at Addis Ababa and Bangalore maximize in October with ~72TECu and 65TECu at about 11:00UT and 09:00UT respectively. Seasonal variations showed that TEC maximizes during the equinoctial months and least in summer, over the three stations. Keywords: Total Electron Content, Equatorial Ionization Anomaly, Global Positioning System co-author:E.A. Ariyibi(Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria)

An annular solar eclipse occurred over the Indian subcontinent during the afternoon hours of January 15, 2010. This event was unique in the sense that solar activity was minimum and the eclipse period coincides with the peak ionization time at the Indian equatorial and lowlatitudes. The number of GPS receivers situated along the path of solar eclipse were used to investigate the response of total electron content (TEC) under the influence of this solar eclipse. These GPS receivers are part of the Indian Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) named as 'GAGAN' (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) program. The eight GPS stations located over the wide range of longitudes allows us to differentiate between the various factors induced due to solar eclipse over the equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere. The effect of the eclipse was detected in diurnal variations of TEC at all the stations along the eclipse path. The solar eclipse has altered the ionospheric behavior along its path by inducing atmospheric gravity waves, localized counter-electrojet and attenuation of solar radiation intensity. These three factors primarily control the production, loss and transport of plasma over the equatorial and lowlatitudes. The localized counter-electrojet had inhibited the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the longitude belt of 72°E-85°E. Thus, there was a negative deviation of the order of 20-40% at the equatorial anomaly stations lying in this 'inhibited EIA region'. The negative deviation of only 10-20% is observed for the stations lying outside the 'inhibited EIA region'. The pre-eclipse effect in the form of early morning enhancement of TEC associated with atmospheric gravity waves was also observed during this solar eclipse. More clear and distinctive spatial and temporal variations of TEC were detected along the individual satellite passes. It is also observed that TEC starts responding to the eclipse after 30 min from start of eclipse and the delay of the

Ionospheric disturbances following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the 2013 Moore tornado were observed by high-resolution GPS total electron content (TEC) observations using dense GPS receiver networks. After the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, concentric waves with short propagation distance propagated in the radial direction in the propagation velocity of 3,457, 783, 423 m/s for the first, second, third peak, respectively. Following these waves, concentric waves with long propagation distance appeared to propagate at the velocity of 138-288 m/s. In the vicinity of the epicenter, sudden TEC depletions and short-period oscillations with a period of approximately 4 minutes were also observed. The center of these ionospheric variations, termed the "ionospheric epicenter", corresponded to the tsunami source. Comparing to the results of a numerical simulation using non-hydrostatic compressible atmosphere-ionosphere model, the first peak of circular wave would be caused by the acoustic waves generated from the propagating Rayleigh wave. The second and third waves would be caused by atmospheric gravity waves excited in the lower ionosphere due to the acoustic wave propagations from the tsunami source. The fourth and following waves are considered to be caused by the atmospheric gravity waves induced by the wavefronts of traveling tsunami. After the EF5 tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma, USA, on 20 May 2013, clear concentric waves and short-period oscillations were observed. These concentric waves were non-dispersive waves with a horizontal wavelength of approximately 120 km and a period of approximately 13 minutes. They were observed for more than seven hours throughout North America. TEC oscillations with a period of approximately 4 minutes were also observed in the south of Moore for more than eight hours. Comparison between the GPS-TECobservations and the infrared cloud images from the GOES satellite indicates that the concentric waves and the short-period oscillations would be

Systematic measurement of optical dayglow emissions at multiple wavelengths, namely, 557.7nm , 630.0nm, and 777.4nm have been carried out over a large field-of-view using a newly built Multiwavelength Imaging Spectograph using Echelle-grating (MISE) during January-February 2011 from a lowlatitude station, Hyderabad (Geographic: 17.5 deg. N, 78.5 deg. E; Mag.: 8.6 deg. N, 151.8 deg. E), India. Several large and small scale features are seen in all the wavelengths. In contrast to the earlier measurement of OI-630.0nm red-line emission during the high solar activity period (2001), current optical dayglow measurements during relatively low solar epoch (2011) show no similarity with that of the solar flux. However, it is noted that the variation in strength of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) seems to be similar to that of optical measurements in 2011. This is also in contrast with the measurements in 2001, where no similarity was seen between EEJ and OI-630.0nm dayglow intensity. Periodogram analysis of these two data sets (optical and EEJ) show a marked difference in the occurrence of the quasi-16-day planetary wave periods before noon and in the afternoon hours. In order to investigate the coupling of atmospheric regions, periodogram analysis of total electron content (TEC) and SABER measured mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) temperature data were carried out. Interestingly, the TEC data from Bangalore (Mag. Lat 4 deg. N) shows contrasting behaviour in terms of periodicities before noon and afternoon similar to those in optical dayglow intensities, SABER temperatures, and the strength of the EEJ while the TEC periodicities of another further away station (Ahmedabad, Mag. Lat 15 deg. N) does not show any such behaviour. It is suggested that planetary wave of periods of quasi-9-day and quasi-16-day, which are observed in MLT have their influence on the behaviour of the upper atmosphere as seen in optical, radio and magnetic measurements. These results point to

Observations at high temporal resolution of the frontside magnetopause and plasma boundary layer, made with the LASL/MPE fast plasma analyzer onboard the ISEE 1 and 2 spacecraft, revealed a complex quasiperiodic structure of some of the observed boundary layers. A cool tailward streaming boundary layer plasma was seen intermittently, with intervening periods of hot tenuous plasma which has properties similar to the magnetospheric population. While individual encounters with the boundary layer plasma last only a few minutes, the total observation time may extend over one hour or more.

Multi-diagnostic observations, covering a significant area of northwest Europe, were made during the magnetic storm interval (28 29 April 2001) that occurred during the High Rate SolarMax IGS/GPS-campaign. HF radio observations were made with vertical sounders (St. Petersburg and Sodankyla), oblique incidence sounders (OIS), on paths from Murmansk to St. Petersburg, 1050 km, and Inskip to Leicester, 170 km, Doppler sounders, on paths from Cyprus to St. Petersburg, 2800 km, and Murmansk to St. Petersburg, and a coherent scatter radar (CUTLASS, Hankasalmi, Finland). These, together with total electron content (TEC) measurements made at GPS stations from the Euref network in northwest Europe, are presented in this paper. A broad comparison of radio propagation data with ionospheric data at high and mid latitudes, under quiet and disturbed conditions, was undertaken. This analysis, together with a geophysical interpretation, allow us to better understand the nature of the ionospheric processes which occur during geomagnetic storms. The peculiarity of the storm was that it comprised of three individual substorms, the first of which appears to have been triggered by a compression of the magnetosphere. Besides the storm effects, we have also studied substorm effects in the observations separately, providing an improved understanding of the storm/substorm relationship. The main results of the investigations are the following. A narrow trough is formed some 10h after the storm onset in the TEC which is most likely a result of enhanced ionospheric convection. An enhancement in TEC some 2 3 h after the storm onset is most likely a result of heating and upwelling of the auroral ionosphere caused by enhanced currents. The so-called main effect on ionospheric propagation was observed at mid-latitudes during the first two substorms, but only during the first substorm at high latitudes. Ionospheric irregularities observed by CUTLASS were clearly related to the gradient in TEC

Sporadically structured ionosphere (i.e. in-homogeneities in refractive index) can cause fluctuations (due to refraction effects) on the radio signal that is passing through it. These fluctuations are called ionospheric scintillations. Lowlatitude region is suitable for studying these scintillations. The influence of the ionosphere on the propagation of the radio wave becomes very marked with reference to communication or navigational radio system at very low frequency (VLF) to a high frequency (HF), which operate over the distances of 1000 km or more. Radio wave communication at different frequencies depends on structure of the ionosphere. With the advent of the artificial satellites, they are used as a prime mode of radio wave communication. Some natural perturbation termed as irregularities, are present in the form of electron density of the ionosphere that cause disruption in the radio and satellite communications. Therefore the study of the ionospheric irregularities is of practical importance, if one wishes to understand the upper atmosphere completely. In order to make these communications uninterrupted the knowledge of irregularities, which are present in the ionosphere are very important. These irregularities can be located and estimated with the help of Ionospheric TEC and Scintillation. Scintillation is generally confined to nighttime hours, particularly around equatorial and lowlatitudes.

Cassini ISS observed multiple widespread changes in surface brightness in Titan's equatorial regions over the past three years. These brightness variations are attributed to rainfall from cloud systems that appear to form seasonally. Determining the composition of this rainfall is an important step in understanding the "methanological" cycle on Titan. I use data from Cassini VIMS to complete a spectroscopic investigation of multiple rain-wetted areas. I compute "before-and-after" spectral ratios of any areas that show either deposition or evaporation of rain. By comparing these spectral ratios to a model of liquid ethane, I find that the rain is most likely composed of liquid ethane. The spectrum of liquid ethane contains multiple absorption features that fall within the 2-micron and 5-micron spectral windows in Titan's atmosphere. I show that these features are visible in the spectra taken of Titan's surface and that they are characteristically different than those in the spectrum of liquid methane. Furthermore, just as ISS saw the surface brightness reverting to its original state after a period of time, I show that VIMS observations of later flybys show the surface composition in different stages of returning to its initial form.

Cassini ISS observed multiple widespread changes in surface brightness in Titan's equatorial regions over the past three years (Barnes, J. W. et al. 2012, Icarus, submitted). These brightness variations are attributed to rainfall from cloud systems that appear to form seasonally (Turtle, E. P. et al. 2011, Science, 331, 1414-1417). Determining the composition of this rainfall is an important step in understanding the “methanological” cycle that dominates Titan's surface and atmosphere. In this study, we use data from Cassini VIMS to complete a thorough spectroscopic investigation of rain-wetted areas near Yalaing Terra, Hetpet Regio and central Adiri on Titan. We compute “before-and-after” spectral ratios of any areas that show either deposition or evaporation of rain at any point in the time span of August 2009 to January 2012. By comparing these spectral ratios to a model of liquid ethane that was calculated to match the resolution and sampling interval of VIMS (Brown, R. H. et al. 2008, Nature, 454, 607-610), we find that the rain is most likely composed of liquid ethane. The spectrum of liquid ethane contains multiple absorption features that fortunately fall within the 2-micron and 5-micron spectral windows in Titan's atmosphere. We show that these features are visible in the spectra taken of Titan's surface and that they are characteristically different than those in the spectrum of liquid methane. Furthermore, just as ISS saw the surface brightness reverting to its original state after a period of time, we show that VIMS observations of later flybys show the surface composition in different stages of returning to its initial form as well. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

Cassini ISS observed multiple widespread changes in surface brightness in Titan's equatorial regions over the past three years (Barnes, J. W. et al. 2012, Icarus, submitted). These brightness variations are attributed to rainfall from cloud systems that appear to form seasonally (Turtle, E. P. et al. 2011, Science, 331, 1414-1417). Determining the composition of this rainfall is an important step in understanding the "methanological" cycle that dominates Titan's surface and atmosphere. In this study, we use data from Cassini VIMS to complete a thorough spectroscopic investigation of rain-wetted areas near Yalaing Terra, Hetpet Regio and central Adiri on Titan. We compute "before-and-after" spectral ratios of any areas that show either deposition or evaporation of rain at any point in the time span of August 2009 to January 2012. By comparing these spectral ratios to a model of liquid ethane that was calculated to match the resolution and sampling interval of VIMS (Brown, R. H. et al. 2008, Nature, 454, 607-610), we find that the rain is most likely composed of liquid ethane. The spectrum of liquid ethane contains multiple absorption features that fortunately fall within the 2-micron and 5-micron spectral windows in Titan's atmosphere. We show that these features are visible in the spectra taken of Titan's surface and that they are characteristically different than those in the spectrum of liquid methane. Furthermore, just as ISS saw the surface brightness reverting to its original state after a period of time, we show that VIMS observations of later flybys show the surface composition in different stages of returning to its initial form as well. Funded by NASA.

We report a clear transition through a reconnection layer at the low-latitude magnetopause which shows a complete traversal across all reconnected field lines during northwestward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. The associated plasma populations confirm details of the electron and ion mixing and the time history and acceleration through the current layer. This case has low magnetic shear with a strong guide field and the reconnection layer contains a single density depletion layer on the magnetosheath side which we suggest results from nearly field-aligned magnetosheath flows. Within the reconnection boundary layer, there are two plasma boundaries, close to the inferred separatrices on the magnetosphere and magnetosheath sides (Ssp and Ssh) and two boundaries associated with the Alfvén waves (or Rotational Discontinuities, RDsp and RDsh). The data are consistent with these being launched from the reconnection site and the plasma distributions are well ordered and suggestive of the time elapsed since reconnection of the field lines observed. In each sub-layer between the boundaries the plasma distribution is different and is centered around the current sheet, responsible for magnetosheath acceleration. We show evidence for a velocity dispersion effect in the electron anisotropy that is consistent with the time elapsed since reconnection. In addition, new evidence is presented for the occurrence of partial reflection of magnetosheath electrons at the magnetopause current layer.

The advent of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) represents a leap forward in our capability to measure rapidly changing transient events on the sun. SDO measurements are paired with the comprehensive lowlatitude measurements of the ionosphere and thermosphere provided by the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite and state-of-the-art general circulation models to discuss the coupling between the terrestrial upper atmosphere and solar radiation. Here we discuss ionospheric heating as detected by the Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) instrument suite on the C/NOFS satellite during solar flares. Also discusses is the necessity of decoupling the heating due to increased EUV irradiance and that due to geomagnetic storms, which sometimes occur with flares. Increases in both the ion temperature and ion density in the subsolar topside ionosphere are detected within 77 minutes of the 23 Jan 2012 M-class flare, and the observed results are compared with the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM) using the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) as an input.

Analyses of in situ observations have shown that some small coronal holes are sources of slow solar wind near solar maximum when polar coronal holes become smaller and disappear. However, not all coronal holes at solar maximum produce slow wind. The Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) aboard SOHO has been used to observe large low-latitude coronal holes during solar maximum that produced fast solar wind. UVCS observations show that large equatorial holes at solar maximum have plasma properties that seem to bridge the gap between solar minimum polar coronal holes and streamers. The ion kinetic temperatures in equatorial holes are about 2 times larger than those in a solar minimum equatorial streamer, and about a factor of 2 smaller than those in polar coronal holes above 2 R . The outflow speeds for the large equatorial holes observed by UVCS are only about 100 km s-1 , a factor of 4 smaller than those in polar holes, at 3 R . However, in situ data corresponding to these equatorial coronal holes showed asymptotic wind speeds of 600-700 km s-1 . These wind speeds are similar to those observed over polar coronal holes at solar minimum. In contrast to the polar coronal holes, the bulk of the solar wind acceleration in large equatorial coronal holes at solar maximum must occur above 3 R . Thus, the combination of spectroscopic measurements in the extended corona, where the primary solar wind acceleration occurs, and in situ measurements made in the solar wind can be used to obtain the solar wind acceleration as a function of heliocentric distance. These observations provide detailed empirical constraints for theoretical models and may be key to understanding how the various types of solar wind plasma are heated and accelerated. This work is supported by NASA under Grant NAG5-11420 to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, by the Italian Space Agency and by PRODEX (Swiss contribution).

We describe here a new phenomenon characterized by unusual patterns of ion drifts inside ion density depletion regions observed by the AE-E satellite in the low-latitude F region. In about 30 depletions, vertical ion drift relative to the background was upward on the western sides, downward on the eastern sides, and zero near the middle where the density depletion was greatest. These drift characteristics are distinct from those observed in plasma bubble depletions. The structures reported here were observed on circular orbits below 300 km altitude and had density depletions of up to 2 orders of magnitude or more below the ambient ion density. The upward and downward drift excursions were up to 200 m/s relative to the background. Almost all these structures were observed over oceans or near coasts and largely between +/- 10 deg and +/- 30 deg clip latitude. The structures were observed mostly as isolated, single depletion regions with the majority of them about 250 km wide in the east-west direction. They occurred during quiet magnetic conditions with near-equal occurrence frequencies in the premidnight and postmidnight periods. The characteristic density and drift signatures indicate westward propagating disturbances in which the bottomside F layer is first lifted and then returned back to its original position, leaving the ionosphere undisturbed after the disturbance passes by. The estimated speed of these disturbances is of the order of 200 m/s. These unique solitary plasma disturbances, which we designate as singular plasma disturbances, are associated with a propagating source of E x B drift, not driven by neutral perturbations at the altitude of observation.

A realistic method of calculating the eigenperiod of Pc 3 pulsations at lowlatitudes is discussed. Solution of the problem requires a magnetic field model and a model for the plasma distribution along the resonating field line. The calculated eigenperiods obtained using the dipole field model and the IGRF model are found to be similar. The inclusion of the F region O{sup +} in the plasma distribution noticeably affects the calculated eigenperiod at lowlatitudes. This effect decreases with increasing L value. Pulsation periods obtained from recordings made at four stations lying on a geomagnetic meridian demonstrate the importance of including O{sup +} in the plasma model if realistic periods are to be calculated at lowlatitudes.

This study presents a comparison with IRI-PLUS and IRI-2012 Total Electron Content (TEC) values of Total Electron Content (TEC) values obtained from Ankara station (39,7 N; 32,76 E) of Global Position System (GPS) of Turkey on equinox and solstice days of 2009 year. For all days, it is observed that GPS-TEC values are greater than IRI-2012-TEC values, while IRI-PLUS-TEC values are very close to GPS-TEC values. When GPS-TEC values for both equinoxes are compared, it is seen that TEC values on September equinox are greater than one on March equinox. However, it is observed that GPS-TEC values on June solstice are greater than one on December solstice. Also, the relationship between GPS-TEC values and geomagnetic indexes is investigated.

The equatorial and low-latitude ionospheric response to three moderate geomagnetic storms (17, 18, and 22 January) during the period from 16 to 23 January 2005 is investigated in the context of development/inhibition of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the subsequent occurrence/nonoccurrence of Equatorial Spread F (ESF) irregularities on these days. The study is carried out using the Total Electron Content (TEC) measured with the GPS receivers along the ˜80°E longitude sector and the F-layer bottom height obtained from the Ionosonde located over the dip equatorial location of Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E, dip latitude ˜0.5°N) in India. It is observed that, for the storms on days 17 and 22, the development of the anomaly was inhibited, probably due to the westward disturbance dynamo electric fields. Subsequently, the post sunset enhancement in the vertical drift of the equatorial F region was also inhibited significantly compared to the quiet day pattern and, as anticipated, no ESF was observed on these days. A large vertical drift of the equatorial F region followed by nearly simultaneous onset of weak ESF was observed on day 18. The late development of the EIA on this day could be due to the eastward prompt penetration electric field associated with the southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field. Also, strong and distinct F3 layer appeared for a short time in the morning, reappeared later in the noon time, and then quickly ascended to the topside ionosphere during the main phase of the storm on day 18.

Observations of aurorae borealis at lowlatitudes are very rare and are clearly associated with strong geomagnetic storms. Morphologically, they are characterized by a diffuse red colour with no rapid motions. The main aim of this paper is to analyse two hitherto ignored aurorae that were observed at two low-latitude sites, Tenerife (28°N 18°W) and Mexico City (19°N 99°W), in 1770 and 1789, respectively. These observations can give supplementary information about the level of solar activity at those times where direct solar observations were rather scarce. Studying also the behaviour of the heliosphere during this period using different proxies, we find that the open magnetic field better describes auroral occurrences. The variation over time in geomagnetic latitude at the two sites is also calculated.

Model simulations of the ionosphere Total Electron Content (TEC) variations have been performed for the Haiti January 12, 2010 and Japan March 11, 2011 earthquakes. Calculations have been carried out using the global numerical Upper Atmosphere Model (UAM). The seismogenic impacts in the model have been set as lower boundary conditions for the electric potential equation. Namely, the vertical electric currents of ~ 20 nA/m2 flowing from the ionosphere to the Earth have been set at the near-epicenter area of ~ 250 by 2000 km. The simulated relative (%) TEC disturbances for both events have been compared to each other and to the corresponding GPS-observed data. The common features persisting at both observed and modeled TEC variations are: (1) the appearance of positive disturbances 20 - 40% by magnitude at night hours for 2 - 4 days before the earthquake, (2) the geomagnetic conjugation of the effects and (3) the lack of migration (movements) of the TEC deviations during their lifetime (of ~ 8 hours). Main differences between the considered events (Haiti and Japan), both modeled and observed, are most evidently pronounced in the TEC disturbances' maximum location relative to the geomagnetic equator. In case of the Haiti earthquake the strongest by magnitude TEC disturbances are located near the magnetically conjugated to the earthquake's epicenter region at the Southern hemisphere, while in case of the Japan earthquake - near the epicenter at the Northern hemisphere. We have attributed this difference to the different seasons the events have taken place in. The asymmetry of the Haiti model TEC disturbances relative to the magnetic meridian of the earthquake's epicenter is in agreement with the GPS-observed one. In case of the Japan earthquake the asymmetry of the TEC deviations relative to the magnetic meridian of the earthquake's epicenter is negligible in the observations, while in the model results it is similar to the Haiti case. In order to remove this asymmetry

Anomalous changes in the ionospheric conditions related to the Wenchuan earthquake of 12 May 2008 are investigated using electron density (Ne) from Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) and CHAMP satellites, electric field from DEMETER, and GPS-total electron content (TEC) maps. The normalized Ne from the DEMETER satellite reveal that the previously reported TEC increments before the earthquake can be considered as fragments of the gradual equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) enhancements near the epicenter longitude that began approximately 1 month before the earthquake and reached its maximum with an exceptionally large strength index 8 days prior to the main shock. This feature is indirectly confirmed through the CHAMP Ne and GPS TEC data. Following the EIA intensity peak, disturbances in the Ne and O+ density were observed in the nightside. Based on the concurrent electric field and Ne changes, it is suggested that EIA intensification could be triggered by the E field disturbances over the epicenter.

High-frequency variability of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) can strongly affect precise positioning with GNSS. The occurrence rate as well as the amplitude of such disturbances has been extensively studied over the last decade. Mainly, one can distinguish disturbances due to space-weather events and the others, qualified as "quiet-time" as they are observed during quiet geomagnetic conditions. The latter, which represent more than 75% of the total number of disturbances over mid-latitudes, are then divided into two categories: the Winter Daytime (WD) and the Summer Nighttime (SN). The first category, representing the bulk of quiet-time disturbances, corresponds to classical Medium-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs), that are the result of the interaction of gravity waves and the ionospheric plasma. On the other hand, SN disturbances are generally understood as non-classical MSTIDs of electrical origin. The paper investigates the origin of these two types of disturbance based on GPS measurements, ionospheric soundings and wind speed data at a tropospheric level. If one cannot exclude the solar terminator as a potential source of gravity waves responsible for WD events, it is thought that the major contribution comes from the lower atmosphere. More precisely, tropospheric jetstream is considered as the favorite candidate for daytime MSTIDs. Turning to SN disturbances, our analysis reveals that they are related to spread-F phenomenon, linked to the appearance of sporadic E-layers. The related instabilities are responsible for field-aligned irregularities in the F-region, which are thought to be responsible for noise-like fluctuations of the GPS TECobserved during SN events.

GPS-TEC data were observed at the same local time at two equatorial stations on both longitudes: Lagos (6.52° N, 3.4° E, 3.04° S magnetic latitude), Nigeria; and Pucallpa (8.38° S, 74.57° W, 4.25° N magnetic latitude), Peru during the minimum (2009, 2010) and ascending (2011) phases of solar cycle 24. These data were grouped into daily, seasonal and solar activity sets. The day-to-day variations in vertical TEC (VTEC) recorded the maximum during 14:00-16:00 LT and minimum during 04:00-06:00 LT at both longitudes. Seasonally, during solar minimum, maximum VTEC values were observed during March equinox and minimum during solstices. However, during the ascending phase of the solar activity, the maximum values were recorded during the December solstice and minimum during the June solstice. VTEC also increased with solar activity at both longitudes. On longitude by longitude comparison, the African GPS station generally recorded higher VTEC values than the American GPS station. Furthermore, harmonic analysis technique was used to extract the annual and semi-annual components of the amplitudes of the TEC series at both stations. The semi-annual variations dominated the TEC series over the African equatorial station, while the annual variations dominated those over the American equatorial station. The GPS-TEC-derived averages for non-storm days were compared with the corresponding values derived by the IRI-2007 with the NeQuick topside option. The NeQuick option of IRI-2007 showed better performance at the American sector than the African sector, but generally underestimating TEC during the early morning hours at both longitudes.

The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model has undergone periodic revisions in order to improve its prediction capability. However, comparison with measurements has brought out some inadequacies in the IRI, particularly with respect to diurnal and solar cycle variations at equatorial and lowlatitudes. The TEC measured simultaneously using NOVATEL receivers at 10 different locations over India during the low solar activity year 2005 are used to examine the predictability of the latest version of the IRI. The stations are distributed in latitude along 77°E and in longitude along 23°N and selected in order to study the latitudinal and longitudinal distribution of measured and model TEC over the Indian subcontinent. Maximum daytime (1000-1400 LT) TEC over India was observed in the month of April at Kolkata (22.5°N, 88.2°E) while minimum TEC was measured at Shimla (31.1°N, 77.1°E) in July. Measured TEC in Equinox I (March, April) was higher than that in Equinox II (September, October) at all locations. Thus equinoctial asymmetry was prevalent across the Indian latitude longitude sector during this year. In the solstices, TEC in summer (May-August) was higher than the TEC in winter (November-February) at the locations along the equatorial anomaly crest. But within the crest and equator, anomalous solsticial behaviour with higher wintertime TEC as compared to that in summer was observed. TEC predicted by the IRI 2012 (with NeQuick option, URSI coefficients) differ from measured TEC at all locations. The amount of offset between the model and measurement varies with local time and location. Minimum divergence was seen at Bhopal (23.0°N, 77.2°E) and Raipur (21.0°N, 81.5°E) The model overestimates TEC at Ahmedabad (23.0°N, 72.5°E) and Shimla and underestimates the same at Kolkata (22.5°N, 88.2°E)and Aizwal( 23.5°N, 93.0°E), Hyderabad (17.5°N, 78.5°E) and Bangalore (13.0°N, 77.5°E). It is inferred that IRI 2012 is unable to capture the temporal

The present study reports the analysis of GPS based TEC for our station Surat (21.16°N, 72.78°E) located at the northern crest of equatorial anomaly region in India at times close to some earthquake events (M ⩾ 5) during the year 2009 in India and its neighbouring regions. The TEC data used in the study are obtained from GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitoring (GISTM) system. The TEC data has been analysed corresponding to 11 earthquakes in low solar activity period and quiet geomagnetic condition. We found that, out of 11 cases of earthquakes (M > 5) there were seven cases in which enhancement in TEC occurred on earthquake day and in other four cases there was depletion in TEC on earthquake day. The variation in refractivity prior to earthquake was significant for the cases in which the epicentre lied within a distance of 600 km from the receiving station. By looking into the features on temporal enhancement and depletion of TEC a prediction was made 3-2 days prior to an earthquake (on 28 October 2009 in Bhuj - India). The paper includes a brief discussion on the method of potentially identifying an impending earthquake from ionospheric data.

The amplitude scintillation information recorded by the GSV4004B GISTM (Global Ionospheric Scintillation TEC Monitor) GPS receiver at an Indian lowlatitude station Surat (21.16°N, 72.78°E) for 48 months during the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are utilized in the present work. Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) have been carried out along with computation of q-order fluctuation function, q-order Hurst exponent, q-order mass exponent and multifractal spectrums for each monthly post-sunset S4 index time series. The non-linear dependence of mass exponent and dependence of q-order Hurst exponent on q-values reflect the existence of nonlinear interaction between different scales and multifractal structure in the system, respectively. The comparison of broadness and shape of spectra with the occurrence of scintillation activities registered in the same period reveal the existence of multifractality/complexity in the turbulent ionosphere, which is influenced by the small-scale intermittency and solar flux indices. The truncation of the spectrum is the evidence of manifestation of small-scale intermittency of the turbulent ionosphere. The higher values of the Hölder exponent α0, calculated from the spectrum, imply the irregular nature of the underlying process. The present study suggests that, MF-DFA may act as an important non-linear technique for identifying the effect of large and small-scale fluctuations in complex and turbulent ionosphere.

A realistic fully time-dependent computer model, denominated LION (Low-latitude Ionospheric) model, that simulates the dynamic behavior of the low-latitude ionosphere is presented. The time evolution and spatial distribution of the ionospheric particle densities and velocities are computed by numerically solving the time-dependent, coupled, nonlinear system of continuity and momentum equations for the ions O+, O2+, NO+, N2+ and N+, taking into account photoionization of the atmospheric species by the solar extreme ultraviolet radiation, chemical and ionic production and loss reactions, and plasma transport processes, including the ionospheric effects of thermospheric neutral winds, plasma diffusion and electromagnetic E×B plasma drifts. The Earth's magnetic field is represented by a tilted centered magnetic dipole. This set of coupled nonlinear equations is solved along a given magnetic field line in a Lagrangian frame of reference moving vertically, in the magnetic meridian plane, with the electromagnetic E×B plasma drift velocity. The spatial and time distribution of the thermospheric neutral wind velocities and the pattern of the electromagnetic drifts are taken as known quantities, given through specified analytical or empirical models. The model simulation results are presented in the form of computer-generated color maps and reproduce the typical ionization distribution and time evolution normally observed in the low-latitude ionosphere, including details of the equatorial Appleton anomaly dynamics. The specific effects on the ionosphere due to changes in the thermospheric neutral winds and the electromagnetic plasma drifts can be investigated using different wind and drift models, including the important longitudinal effects associated with magnetic declination dependence and latitudinal separation between geographic and geomagnetic equators. The model runs in a normal personal computer (PC) and generates color maps illustrating the typical behavior of the

We studied the response of the ionosphere (F region) in the Brazilian sector during extreme space weather event of 17 March 2015 using a large network of 102 GPS- total electron content (TEC) stations. It is observed that the vertical total electron content (VTEC) was severely disturbed during the storm main and recovery phases. A wavelike oscillation with three peaks was observed in the TEC diurnal variation from equator to lowlatitudes during the storm main phase on 17-18 March 2015. The latitudinal extent of the wavelike oscillation peaks decreased from the beginning of the main phase toward the recovery phase. The first peak extended from beyond 0°S to 30°S, the second occurred from 6°S to 25°S, whereas the third diurnal peaks was confined from 13°S to 25°S. In addition, a strong negative phase in VTEC variations was observed during the recovery phase on 18-19 March 2015. This ionospheric negative phase was stronger at lowlatitudes than in the equatorial region. Also, two latitudinal chains of GPS-TEC stations from equatorial region to lowlatitudes in the east and west Brazilian sectors are used to investigate the storm time behavior of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the east and west Brazilian sectors. We observed an anomalous behavior in EIA caused by the wavelike oscillations during the storm main phase on 17 March, and suppression of the EIA, resulting from the negative phase in VTEC, in the storm recovery phase.

All-sky imager was used to observe the wave activity in the mesosphere and a ground network of GPS receivers were used to make detrended Total Electron Content (dTEC) maps to monitor the ionosphere. The wave activity was observed on September 16th 2015 over the southeast region in Brazil. The gravity wave characteristics and the atmospheric conditions for wave propagation will be presented and discussed. The gravity wave source was associated with strong tropospheric convection.

We present observations of HF Doppler (HFD) oscillations in the low-latitude ionosphere seen during global long-period (5-15 min) geomagnetic field oscillation events, which occurred on 21 April 1993 and on 28 February 1998. In both events, daytime polar-equatorial magnetometer data on the ground indicated that the long-period geomagnetic field oscillations at the daytime dip equator were not only considerably enhanced but also highly correlated with those at afternoon high latitudes with no apparent time shift. This earlier finding [Motoba et al., 2002, 2003] strongly suggested that the long-period geomagnetic field oscillations at the daytime dip equator were produced by an extension of polar-originating ionospheric current system associated with high-latitude geomagnetic field oscillations. In the first event on 21 April 1993, the HFD measurement at the post-midnight lowlatitude detected frequency oscillations coherent with the geomagnetic field oscillations at the afternoon dip equator in the Pc5 range. However, there was no magnetic field change at low-latitude magnetometer stations adjacent to the reception site of the HFD. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider that the HFD oscillations are not effects of directly incoming hydromagnetic waves on the nighttime low-latitude ionosphere. In the second event on 28 February 1998, both the low-latitude HFD and equatorial magnetometer measurements were located in the post sunrise-terminator. Similar to the first event, HFD oscillations were well correlated with long-period geomagnetic field oscillations at the daytime equator, although both variations were in anti-phase. In the same local time sector the corresponding low-latitude magnetic field variations were predominant in the D component rather than the H component, suggesting that the meridional ionospheric currents originating in the polar region make a major contribution for the low-latitude magnetic field oscillations. The two case studies presented here

We present observations of HF Doppler (HFD) oscillations in the low-latitude ionosphere seen during global long-period (5˜15 min) geomagnetic field oscillation events, which occurred on 21 April 1993 and on 28 February 1998. In both events, daytime polar-equatorial magnetometer data on the ground indicated that the long-period geomagnetic field oscillations at the daytime dip equator were not only considerably enhanced but also highly correlated with those at afternoon high latitudes with no apparent time shift (within 10 s). This earlier finding [, 2002, 2003] strongly suggested that the long-period geomagnetic field oscillations at the daytime dip equator were produced by an extension of polar-originating ionospheric current system associated with high-latitude geomagnetic field oscillations. In the first event on 21 April 1993, the HFD measurement at the postmidnight lowlatitude detected frequency oscillations coherent with the geomagnetic field oscillations at the afternoon dip equator in the Pc5 range (˜6 min). However, there was no magnetic field change at low-latitude magnetometer stations adjacent to the reception site of the HFD. Therefore it is reasonable to consider that the HFD oscillations are not effects of directly incoming hydromagnetic waves on the nighttime low-latitude ionosphere. In the second event on 28 February 1998, both the low-latitude HFD and equatorial magnetometer measurements were located in the postsunrise terminator. Similar to the first event, HFD oscillations were well correlated with long-period geomagnetic field oscillations (˜14 min) at the daytime equator, although both variations were in antiphase. In the same local time sector the corresponding low-latitude magnetic field variations were predominant in the D component rather than the H component, suggesting that the meridional ionospheric currents originating in the polar region make a major contribution for the low-latitude magnetic field oscillations. The two case

The annular solar eclipse of 15 January 2010 over southern India was studied with a multi-instrument network consisting of magnetometer, ionosonde and GPS receivers. The presence of a counter electrojet (weakened or westward zonal electric field) during the eclipse and adjacent days suggests the strong gravitational tidal effect associated with the exceptional Sun-Moon-Earth alignment around the eclipse day. With a strong backup of magnetometer recordings on the day of eclipse, its adjacent days and the normal electrojet day, it is argued that the regular eastward electric field for the whole day at the equator was not just weakened, but actually was flipped for several hours by the influence of enhanced lunar tides. The effect of flipping the electric field was clearly seen in the equatorial ionosonde data and through the large array of GPS receivers that produced the total electron content (TEC) data. The main impact of flipping the electric field was poor feeding of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) due to the severely weakened fountain effect on the eclipse day, with the regular anomaly crest shifting towards the equator. The equatorial ionosonde profile was also showing an enhanced F2 region peak in spite of a reduced vertical TEC. While the plasma density depletion at the lower F region altitude over the equator was due to the temporary lack of photo-ionization, the reductions in high altitude plasma density beyond the equator were caused by the electrodynamics taking place around the eclipse. The important finding of this analysis is that the electrodynamical consequences on the lowlatitude ionosphere were mainly due to the combination of eclipse and lunar tides which were far more significant and influenced the EIA density rather than eclipse alone. Based on these findings, it is argued that the prevailing lunar tidal impact also needs to be taken into account while seeking to understand the electrodynamical impact of the solar eclipse on the low

We present lowlatitude ionospheric response over Indian longitude to the recent super geomagnetic storm of 17 March 2015, using the SAMI2 model which incorporates ionosonde derived vertical drift impacted by prompt penetration eastward electric field occurring during the evening Prereversal Enhancement (PRE) in the vertical drift. The importance of this storm is that (a) Dst reaches as low as -228 nT and (b) prompt penetration of eastward electric field coincided with evening hours PRE. The daytime vertical EXB drifts in the SAMI2 model are, however, considered based on Scherliess-Fejer model. The simulations indicate a significant enhancement in F layer height and equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the post sunset hours on 17 March 2015 vis-a-vis quiet day. The model simulations during recovery phase, considering disturbance dynamo vertical EXB drift along with equatorward disturbance wind, indicates suppression of the daytime EIA. SAMI2 simulations considering the disturbance wind during the recovery phase suggests that equatorward wind enhances the ionospheric density in the lowlatitude, however, its role in the formation of the EIA depends on the polarity of the zonal electric field. Comparison of model derived total electron content (TEC) with the TEC from ground GPS receivers indicate that model does reproduce enhancement of the EIA during the main phase and suppression of the EIA during the recovery phase of the super storm. However, peculiarities pertaining to the ionospheric response to prompt penetration electric field in the Indian sector vis-a-vis earlier reports from American sector will be discussed.

We used Sr/Ca and stable isotope data from well dated and preserved corals from the northeastern Caribbean to determine the seasonal environmental conditions for four continuous years during the Eemian, the last time the Earth was in a prolonged warm phase. We determined that the seasonal range in SST during the Eemian was 25??-30?? C. This is ???1-2?? larger than at present and caused primarily by winter cooling and, only to a small degree, by summer warming. As climate modeling studies indicate, the bias towards colder winters can be explained by changes in lowlatitude insolation induced by altered orbital parameters, modulated by atmospheric CO2 levels that were lower than today. Milankovitch forcing at higher latitudes was probably less important.

ɛ Eridani is a nearby, young Sun-like star that hosts a ring of cool debris analogous to the solar system's Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. Early observations at (sub-)mm wavelengths gave tentative evidence of the presence of inhomogeneities in the ring, which have been ascribed to the effect of a putative low eccentricity planet, orbiting close to the ring. The existence of these structures have been recently challenged by high resolution interferometric millimeter observations. Here we present the deepest single-dish image of ɛ Eridani at millimeter wavelengths, obtained with the Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano (LMT). The main goal of these LMT observations is to confirm (or refute) the presence of non-axisymmetric structure in the disk. The dusty ring is detected for the first time along its full projected elliptical shape. The radial extent of the ring is not spatially resolved and shows no evidence, to within the uncertainties, of dust density enhancements. Additional features of the 1.1 mm map are: (i) the presence of significant flux in the gap between the ring and the star, probably providing the first exo-solar evidence of Poynting-Robertson drag, (ii) an unambiguous detection of emission at the stellar position with a flux significantly above that expected from ɛ Eridani's photosphere, and (iii) the identification of numerous unresolved sources which could correspond to background dusty star-forming galaxies.

In the low-latitude, ionospheric F region, the primary transport mechanism that determines the electron and ion density distributions is the magnitude of the daytime, upward E × B drift velocity. During large geomagnetic storms, penetration of high-latitude electric fields to lowlatitudes can often produce daytime, vertical E × B drift velocities in excess of 50 m/s. Employing a recently developed technique, we can infer these daytime, upward E × B drift velocities from ground-based magnetometer observations at Jicamarca and Piura, Peru, as a function of local time (0700-1700 LT). We study the ionospheric response in the Peruvian longitude sector to these large upward drifts by theoretically calculating electron and ion densities as a function of altitude, latitude, and local time using the time-dependent Low-Latitude Ionospheric Sector (LLIONS) model. This is a single-sector ionosphere model capable of incorporating data-determined drivers, such as E × B drift velocities. For this study, we choose three large storms in 2003 (29 and 30 October and 20 November) when daytime E × B drift velocities approached or exceeded 50 m/s. Initial results indicate that the large, upward E × B drift velocities on 29 October produced equatorial anomaly crests in ionization at ±20° dip latitude rather than the usual ±16° dip latitude. We compare the theoretically calculated results with a variety of ground-based and satellite observations for these three periods and discuss the implications of these comparisons as they relate to the capabilities of current theoretical models and our ability to infer ionospheric drivers such as E × B drifts (Anderson et al., 2002).

We review solar geophysical data relating to the great magnetic storm of 14-15 May 1921, with emphasis on observations of the low-latitude visual aurora. From the reports we have gathered for this event the lowest geomagnetic latitude of definite overhead aurora (coronal form) was 40 deg and the lowest geomagnetic latitude from which auroras were observed on the poleward horizon in the northern hemisphere was 30 deg. For comparison, corresponding overhead/low-latitude values of 48 deg/32 deg and 41 deg/20 deg were reported for the great auroras on 28-29 August and 1-2 September 1859, respectively. However for the 1921 event, there is a report of aurora from Apia, Samoa, in the southern hemisphere, within 13 deg of the geomagnetic equator. This report by professional observers appears to be credible, based on the aurora description and timing, but is puzzling because of the discrepancy with the lowest latitude of observation in the northern hemisphere and the great implied aurora height (approximately 2000 km, assuming overhead aurora at Auckland, New Zealand). We discuss various possibilities that might account for this observation.

This paper presents a simple linear regression model that enables to quantify the contribution of high-latitude stratospheric temperature and solar radiation (describes by its proxy F10.7) to the variability of the low-latitudeTEC during winter. The model is based on cross-correlation analysis performed on the Aura MLS temperature measurements and the global CODE TEC data for the period of time 2005-2010, i.e. at low to moderate solar activity (F10.7 changes between ~65 and ~140 solar flux units). It revealed that the temperature at altitude of ~40 km and latitude of ~60°N describes the most typical winter conditions and shows the largest negative correlation with the low-latitudeTEC. This temperature namely is included in the regression model. The model results have been compared with the TEC data by calculating the standard deviation (STD). The comparison indicated that the regression model describes almost half of the real variability of the global TEC and that the contribution of the temperature (that is only a part of forcing from below) is almost half of the solar variability (i.e. external forcing related to the photo-ionization). A possible mechanism for explaining the relationship between the high-latitude stratospheric increase of the temperature and low-latitude decrease of the TEC is suggested.

We observed the spiral galaxies M 51 and M 83 at 20 arscec spatial resolution with the bolometer array Aztronomical Thermal Emission Camera (AzTEC) on the JCMT in the 1.1 mm continuum, recovering the extended emission out to galactocentric radii of more than 12 kpc in both galaxies. The 1.1 mm-continuum fluxes are 5.6 ± 0.7 and 9.9 ± 1.4 Jy, with associated gas masses estimated at 9.4 × 109 M⊙ and 7.2 × 109 M⊙ for M 51 and M 83, respectively. In the interarm regions of both galaxies, the N(H2)/I(CO) (or X-factor) ratios exceed those in the arms by factors of ˜1.5-2. In the inner discs of both galaxies, the X-factor is about 1 × 1020 cm- 2 (K km s- 1)- 1. In the outer parts, the CO-dark molecular gas becomes more important. While the spiral density wave in M 51 appears to influence the interstellar medium and stars in a similar way, the bar potential in M 83 influences the interstellar medium and the stars differently. We confirm the result of Foyle et al. that the arms merely heighten the star formation rate (SFR) and the gas surface density in the same proportion. Our maps reveal a threshold gas surface density for an SFR increase by two or more orders of magnitude. In both galaxy centres, the molecular gas depletion time is about 1 Gyr climbing to 10-20 Gyr at radii of 6-8 kpc. This is consistent with an inside-out depletion of the molecular gas in the discs of spiral galaxies.

Observations suggest that both the high- and low-latitude boundary layers contribute to magnetospheric convection, and that their contributions are linked. In the interpretation pursued here, the high-latitude boundary layer (HBL) generates the voltage while the low-latitude boundary layer (LBL) generates the current for the part of the convection electric circuit that closes through the ionosphere. This paper gives a model that joins the high- and low-latitude boundary layers consistently with the ionospheric Ohm's law. It describes an electric circuit linking both boundary layers, the region 1 Birkeland currents, and the ionospheric Pedersen closure currents. The model works by using the convection electric field that the ionosphere receives from the HBL to determine two boundary conditions to the equations that govern viscous LBL-ionosphere coupling. The result provides the needed self-consistent coupling between the two boundary layers and fully specifies the solution for the viscous LBL-ionosphere coupling equations. The solution shows that in providing the current required by the ionospheric Ohm's law, the LBL needs only a tenth of the voltage that spans the HBL. The solution also gives the latitude profiles of the ionospheric electric field, parallel currents, and parallel potential. It predicts that the plasma in the inner part of the LBL moves sunward instead of antisunward and that, as the transpolar potential decreases below about 40 kV, reverse polarity (region 0) currents appear at the poleward border of the region 1 currents. A possible problem with the model is its prediction of a thin boundary layer ({approximately}1000 km), whereas thicknesses inferred from satellite data tend to be greater.

The low-latitude E, valley and F region 3 m scale irregularities are studied with the Sanya (18.4°N, 109.6°E, dip latitude 12.8°N) VHF coherent scatter radar. The observations show that the E region irregularities (ERIs) often weaken or disappear during the development of postsunset equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) in equinoctial months. However, the valley region irregularities (VRIs) are found to occur during the EPB development and show structures with close relation to those of EPBs. The interesting aspect is that the ERI disruption and VRI generation are simultaneously detected. In terms of the electric field coupling from the equatorial F region down to low-latitude E and valley regions, the polarization electric fields (PEFs) associated with the EPB bifurcation are suggested to play key roles in the evolution of ERIs and VRIs. It is shown that the mapping of upward and eastward PEFs generated within the equatorial west tilted bubble would inhibit the occurrence of low-latitude ERIs. However, for the east tilted bubble structure, the associated downward PEFs might map to the low-latitude valley region and play an active role for the development of 3 m scale irregularities through gradient drift instability.

In the present study, we document daytime total electron content (TEC) disturbances associated with medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs), on few chosen geomagnetically quiet days over Southern Hemisphere of Brazilian longitude sector. These disturbances are derived from TEC data obtained using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver networks. From the keograms and cross-correlation maps, the TEC disturbances are identified as the MSTIDs that are propagating equatorward-eastward, having most of their average wavelengths longer in latitude than in longitude direction. These are the important outcomes of the present study which suggest that the daytime MSTIDs over Southern Hemisphere are similar to their counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere. Another important outcome is that the occurrence characteristics of these MSTIDs and that of atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) activities in the thermosphere are found to be similar on day-to-day basis. This suggests a possible connection between them, confirming the widely accepted AGW forcing mechanism for the generation of these daytime MSTIDs. The source of this AGW is investigated using the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate satellite data. Finally, we provided evidences that AGWs are generated by convection activities from the tropospheric region.

The characteristics of quiet time equatorial and lowlatitude total electron content (TEC) over the Indian sector using GIM data (1998-2014) is obtained. For the first time the analysis is carried filtering out the solar flare and storm effects and time series of quiet time VTEC data from three locations namely dip equator and two lowlatitude conjugate locations in Indian sector are obtained. It is well known that a complex interplay among drivers of equatorial electrodynamics like Solar flux, dynamo electric field and meridional winds determine the daytime ionization and distribution in equatorial ionization anomaly zone. In this study, we have critically examined the role of varying solar flux and response of lowlatitude ionosphere with new and standardized definitions. The results are examined and interpreted in the context of large number of previous studies. The newly found features from this study are as follows. Marked difference in nature of equinoctial asymmetry is noted between solar cycle 23 and 24. Long absence of winter anomaly both during low and high solar activity (HSA) in LL (lowlatitude) regions is found. Climatology of the diurnal cycle is provided in four categories using new criteria for demarcation of solar activity levels. Highest correlation (~77%) between GIM ionospheric electron content (IEC) and PI (solar EUV proxy index) is noted over equator in contrast to previous studies. The minimum positive contribution of PI in variation of IEC requires minimum of 2 years of data and if more than 7-8 years of data is used, it saturates. RMS (root mean square) width of PI can be used to define the HSA. Strong QBO (quasi biennial oscillations) in IEC is noted in tune with the one in PI over both the LL location but QBO remains surprisingly subdued over equator. The semi-annual oscillations in GIM-IEC are found to be stronger at all locations during high solar activity and weaker between 2005 and 2011, whereas, the annual oscillations are found to

ESA's constellation mission Swarm was successfully launched on 22 November 2013. The three satellites are orbiting the Earth at 470 km and 520 km altitude. The spacecraft carry instruments to monitor the plasma density and magnetic eld magnitude and their variations with high quality. We will present results on lowlatitude F region post sunset plasma irregularities (EPIs). EPIs are characterised by severe plasma density gradients and distinct magnetic field variations and cause GPS signal detection degradations. Our results show rather small scale sizes of EPIs (>44 km) in the zonal direction as well as more fragmented irregularities in the southern hemisphere where the ambient magnetic field is lower than on the northern hemisphere. From the Swarm spacecraft constellation with a zonal separation of about 150 km, we conclude that larger zonal scale sizes of irregularities exist in the early evening hours (around 1900 LT) and that the irregularities break into smaller structures later in the evening. However, we also observe examples where only one satellite detects EPIs, while the others show undisturbed ionization. We will present also such an example, and compare these observations with detections of depletions on satellites from other missions. There exist a strong link to low-latitude space weather: the plasma irregularities give rise to severe disturbances of GPS navigational signals and these can also be monitored on board the Swarm satellites simultaneously with the plasma irregularities.

In the lowlatitude, ionospheric F region, the primary transport mechanism that determines the electron and ion density distributions is the magnitude of the daytime, upward ExB drift velocity. During the geomagnetic storms on Oct. 29 and 30, 2003, we have inferred these upward ExB drift velocities from ground-based magnetometer observations at Jicamarca and Piura, Peru as a function of local time (0700 - 1700LT). On both days these ExB drifts exceeded 80 m/sec which is about four times greater than the normal, quiet time value of 20 m/sec. We study the ionospheric response in the Peruvian longitude sector to these large upward drifts by theoretically-calculating electron and ion densities as a function of altitude, latitude and local time using the time-dependent Low-Latitude Ionospheric Sector model (LLIONS). This is a single sector ionosphere model capable of incorporating data-determined drivers. Initial results indicate that the large, upward ExB drift velocities on Oct. 29 produce equatorial anomaly crests in ionization at +/- 22° dip latitude rather than the usual +/- 16° dip latitude. We compare the theoretically-calculated results with a variety of ground-based and satellite observations for Oct. 28, 29, 30 and 31 and discuss the implications of these comparisons as they relate to the capabilities of current theoretical models and our ability to infer ionospheric drivers such as ExB drifts.

The effect of agricultural irrigation on environment has long been an important issue to investigate. Since the anthropogenic water management is able to change the surface energy budgets and the water cycle, some research has been done to assess its impacts on both regional and global climate. Note that much of the agricultural irrigation at boreal lowlatitudes is applied in wintertime. In this study, we use NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM) to simulate the land-air interaction processes with water management and the consequent responses in atmospheric circulation and hydrological cycle. We conduct some perturbed experiments with different model complexities to clarify the corresponding effects of changes in surface energy balances and atmospheric circulation in both local and global manner. The preliminary results show that the wintertime agricultural irrigation at lowlatitudes is able to lower the surface Bowen ratio, and reduce the surface temperature in a continental scale through atmospheric feedbacks and to change the intensity of prevailing monsoon circulation. In addition, we observed anomalous tropical precipitation and mid-latitude climatic changes indicating tropical-extra tropical teleconnections. Based on these results, we propose that the location of heavily irrigated place is important to have impacts on remote regions which might be an important consideration on human sustainability. We also try to track the fingerprint of this potential climate forcing in observational data and to estimate its contribution relative to other anthropogenic and natural forcing in future climate projection.

Modeling the ionosphere during disturbed periods is one of the most challenging tasks due to the complexity of the phenomena that affect the electric fields and the thermosphere environment as whole. It is well known that depending on the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field disturbance electric fields (undershielding or overshielding) can penetrate from high to lowlatitudes causing significant disturbances in the electron density distribution and in the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) development. Besides that, the large amount of energy deposited in the polar region during disturbed periods will be responsible for the generation of disturbed winds that will flow towards the equator where they produce a disturbance dynamo which also affects the EIA density distribution. The TIDs and TADs are also sources of disturbances that propagate at high velocity reaching the equator 2-3 hours after the beginning of the magnetic storm. In this work we use the Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model at INPE (SUPIM-INPE), to simulate the drastic effects that were observed at the lowlatitude ionosphere in the Brazilian region during a very intense magnetic storm event. A few models are tested for the disturbed electric field and wind. The simulation results showed that the observations are better explained when considering a traveling waveform disturbance propagating from north to south at a velocity equal to 200 m/s.

We develop a one-dimensional LowLatitude Boundary Layer (LLBL) model for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The boundary layer in this model is uniform in the direction normal to the magnetopause, a 'plateau-type' boundary layer. The boundary layer motion is decoupled from the magnetosheath motion and driven by the plasma pressure associated with the incoming solar wind plasma near local noon, which has become entrained on closed field lines as a result of reconnection in the cusp region. Dissipation in the ionosphere at the feet of the boundary layer field lines opposes this motion. There are two physical solutions for the model. In one, the boundary layer reaches a terminal velocity in the tail as the boundary layer plasma effectively joins the solar wind flow. In the other solution, the flow is nearly stopped in the far tail. In combination with other mechanisms, this latter solution may correspond to the case in which the boundary layer plasma participates in magnetospheric convection and returns sunward. The density, velocity, and thickness as functions of distance from local noon are studied, assuming that the magnetopause hasa elliptical shape and the magnetospheric field is dipolar.

During geomagnetic storm lot of free energy is available in the magnetosphere and this energy can act as feeder to electromagnetic waves in different frequency bands. A classical geomagnetic storm consists mainly of four phases i.e. SSC (Sudden Storm commencement), initial Phase, main phase and recovery phase. In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of electromagnetic waves in ULF (ultra low frequency) band associated with different phases of geomagnetic storms. Electromagnetic waves in ULF band (Period~ 10-100s) in the Earth's magnetosphere are generally termed as geomagnetic pulsations. A detailed statistical analysis has been performed over ten years of geomagnetic data from lowlatitude ground stations in Indian and Japanese sectors. The study reveals that storms in general, are accompanied with continuous pulsations of different frequency bands during different phases. In particular, the main phase of 91 % of intense storms was accompanied with pulsations in Pc5 band (frequency~ 2-7 mHz). However, the occurrence of these pulsations was less frequent during main phase of weak to moderate storms. Further, the amplitude of these pulsations increased with the intensity of storm.

While the detection of CO2 ice has only been reported outside the Martian polar regions at very high elevation (i.e., Elysium, Olympus Mons, and the Tharsis Montes), nighttime surface observations by the Mars Climate Sounder on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter document the widespread occurrence of atmospherically corrected ground temperatures consistent with the presence of extensive carbon dioxide frost deposits in the dusty low thermal inertia units at middle/lowlatitudes. Thermal infrared emissivities, interpreted in conjunction with mass balance modeling, suggest micrometer size CO2 ice crystals forming optically thin layers never exceeding a few hundreds of microns in thickness (i.e., 10-2 kg m-2) locally, which is insufficient to generate a measurable diurnal pressure cycle (<<0.1% of the Martian atmosphere). Atmospheric temperatures at middle/lowlatitudes are not consistent with precipitation of CO2 ice, suggesting that condensation occurs on the surface. The recurring growth and sublimation of CO2 ice on Martian dusty terrains may be an important process preventing soil induration and promoting dynamic phenomena (soil avalanching and fluidization and regolith gardening), maintaining a reservoir of micrometer size dust particles that are mobile and available for lifting. The discovery of this diurnal CO2 cycle represents an important step forward in our understanding of the way the Martian atmosphere interacts with the surface.

Saturn's ionosphere is produced when the otherwise neutral atmosphere is exposed to a flow of energetic charged particles or solar radiation. At lowlatitudes the solar radiation should result in a weak planet-wide glow in the infrared, corresponding to the planet's uniform illumination by the Sun. The observed electron density of the low-latitude ionosphere, however, is lower and its temperature higher than predicted by models. A planet-to-ring magnetic connection has been previously suggested, in which an influx of water from the rings could explain the lower-than-expected electron densities in Saturn's atmosphere. Here we report the detection of a pattern of features, extending across a broad latitude band from 25 to 60 degrees, that is superposed on the lower-latitude background glow, with peaks in emission that map along the planet's magnetic field lines to gaps in Saturn's rings. This pattern implies the transfer of charged species derived from water from the ring-plane to the ionosphere, an influx on a global scale, flooding between 30 to 43 per cent of the surface of Saturn's upper atmosphere. This ring 'rain' is important in modulating ionospheric emissions and suppressing electron densities. PMID:23579676

Most of the old cratered highlands of Mars are dissected by branching river valleys that appear to have been cut by running water1,2 yet liquid water is unstable everywhere on the martian surface. In the equatorial region, where most of the valleys are observed, even ice is unstable3,4. It has been suggested, therefore, that Mars had an early denser atmosphere with sufficient greenhouse warming to allow the existence of liquid water 5. Here, we suggest instead that during periods of very high obliquities, ice could accumulate at lowlatitudes as a result of sustained sublimation of ice from the poles and transport of the water vapour equatorwards. At lowlatitudes, the water vapour would saturate the atmosphere and condense onto the surface where it would accumulate until lower obliquities prevailed. The mechanism is efficient only at the very high obliquities that occurred before formation of Tharsis very early in the planet's history, but limited equatorial ice accumulation could also have occurred at the highest obliquities during the rest of the planet's history. Partial melting of the ice could have provided runoff to form the channels or replenish the groundwater system. ?? 1985 Nature Publishing Group.

In this paper, we analyze radar observations of ExB drift and plasma irregularities, ionosonde observations of E- and F-layer parameters including spread F, and magnetic field observations made from Indian lowlatitudes linked with the 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. ExB drift variations presented here are the first of their kind from the Indian sector as far as the effect of SSW is concerned. Difference of magnetic fields observed from the equator and lowlatitude (∆H) and ExB drift show linear relation and both show remarkably large positive values in the morning and negative values in the afternoon exhibiting semidiurnal behavior. Remarkable changing patterns in the critical frequency of F2 layer (foF2) and F3 layer (foF3) were observed after the occurrence of SSW. Large variations with quasi-16-day periodicity were observed in ∆H, foF2 and foF3. Both semidiurnal and quasi-16-day wave modulation observed after the 2009 SSW event are consistent with those reported earlier. We also noted quasi-6 day variations in ∆H and foF2 soon after the SSW commencement, not much reported before. During the counter-electrojet events linked with the SSW event, while equatorial Es (Esq) disappeared as expected, there were no blanketing Es (Esb), a finding not reported and discussed earlier. Esb was also not formed at the off-equatorial location, indicating the absence of required vertical wind shear, but E region plasma irregularities were observed by the ionosonde and radar with a close relationship between the two. Weak F region irregularities were observed in the post-midnight hours and case studies suggest the possible role of SSW related background electric field in the manifestation of post-midnight F region irregularities.

In this paper, we analyze radar observations of E × B drift and plasma irregularities, ionosonde observations of E and F layer parameters including spread F, and magnetic field observations made from Indian lowlatitudes linked with the 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. E × B drift variations presented here are the first of their kind from the Indian sector as far as the effect of SSW is concerned. Difference of magnetic fields observed from the equator and low-latitude (∆H) and E × B drift show linear relation, and both show remarkably large positive values in the morning and negative values in the afternoon exhibiting semidiurnal behavior. Remarkable changing patterns in the critical frequency of F2 layer (foF2) and F3 layer (foF3) were observed after the occurrence of SSW. Large variations with quasi 16 day periodicity were observed in ∆H, foF2, and foF3. Both semidiurnal and quasi 16 day wave modulation observed after the 2009 SSW event are consistent with those reported earlier. We also noted quasi 6 day variations in ∆H and foF2 soon after the SSW commencement, not much reported before. During the counterelectrojet events linked with the SSW event, while equatorial Es (Esq) disappeared as expected, there were no blanketing Es (Esb), a finding not reported and discussed earlier. Esb was also not formed at the off-equatorial location, indicating the absence of required vertical wind shear, but E region plasma irregularities were observed by the ionosonde and radar with a close relationship between the two. Weak F region irregularities were observed in the postmidnight hours, and case studies suggest the possible role of SSW-related background electric field in the manifestation of postmidnight F region irregularities.

This study presents results on the investigation of the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variability of Total Electron Content (TEC), phase (σΦ) and amplitude (S4) scintillation indices over Ugandan (Lowlatitude) region. Scintillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA) data was obtained from Makerere (0.34°N, 32.57°E) station, Uganda for two years (2011 and 2012). Data from two dual frequency GPS receivers at Mbarara (0.60°S, 30.74°E) and Entebbe (0.04°N, 32.44°E) was used to study TEC climatology during the same period of scintillation study. The results show that peak TEC values were recorded during the months of October-November, and the lowest values during the months of July-August. The diurnal peak of TEC occurs between 10:00 and 14:00 UT hours. Seasonally, the ascending and descending phases of TEC were observed during the equinoxes (March and September) and solstice (June and December), respectively. The scintillations observed during the study were classified as weak (0.1≤S4,σΦ≤0.3) and strong (0.3TEC pattern mentioned above. Amplitude scintillation was more dominant than phase scintillation during the two years of the study. Scintillation peaks occur during the months of March-April and September-October, while the least scintillations occur during the months of June-July. Therefore, the contribution of this study is filling the gap in the current documentation of amplitude scintillation without phase scintillation over the Ugandan region. The scintillations observed have been attributed to wave-like structures which have periods of about 2-3 h, in the range of that of large scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs).

Variability in dynamics of the mesospheric and E region echoes have been studied in isolation. Both echoing phenomena are directly or indirectly coupled with each other through neutral dynamics. This is especially so for the low-latitudes outside the equatorial electrojet belt, where E region plasma irregularities causing radar echoes are governed by neutral dynamics, such as tides and gravity waves. Although these regions are close to each other, no effort has been made yet to understand the dynamical coupling processes manifesting the observed variabilities in the two echoing phenomena. To investigate linkage between the two phenomena, if any, we conducted systematic observations of lowlatitude mesospheric and E region echoes during 2011-2012 using the Gadanki MST radar and used these in conjunction with SABER temperature, MF radar wind, and sporadic E observations. Both echoes are found to occur in the height regions where temperature observations show negative gradients. Mesospheric echoes are collocated with temperature gradient associated with mesospheric temperature inversion while the E region echoes are collocated with negative temperature gradient close to the mesopause. Observations have revealed a common signature of semi-annual variations in the occurrence of both mesospheric and ionospheric E-region - occurrences peak in the equinoxes. The E region echoes have an additional peak occurring in the summer and this occurrence is well correlated with the enhancement in the diurnal tidal amplitude. We surmise that the enhancement in the diurnal tidal amplitude is linked with non-migrating tide of tropospheric weather phenomena in summer. Intriguingly, mesospheric echoing layers display descending pattern quite similar to the E region echoes and sporadic E layer, which have been used to invoke tidal dynamics in manifesting similar morphology in both mesospheric and E region echoes. These results will be presented and the role of tidal dynamics on the

Recently, at three Indian lowlatitude stations: Varanasi (geomag. lat. 14°55‧N, geomag. long. 153°54‧E, L: 1.078), Allahabad (geomag. lat. 16.05°N; geomag. long. 155.34°E, L: 1.081) and Lucknow (geomag. lat. 17.6°N, geomag. long. 154.5°E, L: 1.104) an Automatic Whistler Detector (AWD) has been installed in December, 2010 for detection and analysis of whistlers. This instrument automatically detects and collects statistical whistlers data for the investigation of whistlers generation and propagation. Large numbers of whistlers have been recorded at Varanasi and Allahabad during the year 2011 which is analyzed in the present study. Different types of whistlers have been recorded at Varanasi and Allahabad. The correlation between recorded whistlers and causative lightning strikes were analyzed using data provided by World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). We observed that for both the stations more than 50% of causative sferics of whistlers were observed to match closely with the times of WWLLN detected lightning strikes within the propagation times of causative tweeks. All of these lightning strikes originated from the region within 500-600 km radius circle from the conjugate point of Varanasi and Allahabad supports the ducted propagation at lowlatitude stations. The dispersion of the observed whistlers varies between 8 and 18 s1/2, which shows that the observed whistlers have propagated in ducted mode and whole propagation path of whistlers lies in the ionosphere. The ionospheric columnar electron contents of these observed whistlers vary between 13.21 TECU and 56.57 TECU. The ionospheric parameters derived from whistler data at Varanasi compare well with the other measurements made by other techniques.

iaaamphysics@yahoo.co.in iaaphysicsamu@yahoo.com.au Geomagnetic pulsations recorded on the ground are the signatures of the integrated signals from the magnetosphere. Pc3 Geomagnetic pulsations are quasi-sinusoidal variations in the Earth’s Magnetic field in the period range 10-45 seconds. The magnitude of these pulsations ranges from fraction of a nT (nano Tesla) to several nT. These pulsations can be observed in a number of ways. However the application of ground based magnetometer arrays has proven to be one of the most successful methods of studying the spatial structure of hydromagnetic waves in the Earth’s Magnetosphere. The solar wind provides the energy for the Earth’s magnetospheric processes. Pc3-5 geomagnetic pulsations can be generated either externally or internally with respect to the magnetosphere. The Pc3 studies undertaken in the past have been confined to middle and high latitudes. The spatial and temporal variations observed in Pc3 occurrence are of vital importance because they provide evidence which can be directly related to wave generation mechanisms both inside and external to the magnetosphere. At lowlatitudes (L < 3) wave energy predominates in the Pc3 band and the spatial characteristics of these pulsations have received little attention in the past. An array of four lowlatitude induction coil magnetometers was established in south-east Australia over a longitudinal range of 17 degrees at L=1.8 to 2.7 for carrying out the study of the effect of the solar wind velocity on these pulsations. Digital dynamic spectra showing Pc3 pulsation activity over a period of about six months have been used to evaluate Pc3 pulsation occurrence. Pc3 occurrence probability at lowlatitudes has been found to be dominant for the solar wind velocity in the range 400-700 Km/sec. The results suggest that solar wind controls Pc3 occurrence through a mechanism in which Pc3 wave energy is convected through the magnetosheath and coupled to the standing

A VHF radar has been set up at Sanya (18.34° N, 109.62° E, geomagnetic latitude 7.04°N), China in 2009. On the basis of the E, valley and F region irregularity observations detected by the Sanya VHF radar during equinoctial months, we focus on the simultaneous observations of E region irregularities disruption and valley region irregularities generation during the presence of post-sunset F region bubble structures. We stress that both the lowlatitude the E region irregularities (ERI) disruption and valley region irregularities (VRI) generation are associated with the development of post-sunset equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) structures. It is suggested that the electric field coupling from the unstable equatorial F region to low-latitude E and valley region could trigger and inhibit the occurrence of irregularities, depending on the polarity of the polarization electric field associated with the bifurcation of equatorial plasma bubbles. The mapping of upward/eastward and downward/eastward electric field associated with the west-tilted and east-tilted bubble structures, may be responsible for the disruption of E region irregularities, and the generation of valley region irregularities, respectively. However, more observations from multi instruments will be required to confirm such a scenario that the multi bifurcated EPBs play crucial roles for the simultaneous occurrence of lowlatitude ERI disruption and VRI generation.

We have begun an investigation of the nature of the low-latitude boundary layer in the mid-altitude cusp region using data from the Polar spacecraft. This region has been routinely sampled for about three months each year for the periods 1999-2001 and 2004-2006. The low-to-mid-energy ion instruments frequently observed dense, magnetosheath-like plasma deep (in terms of distance from the magnetopause and in invariant latitude) in the magnetosphere. We seek to understand the morphology of the LLBL as it projects from the sub-solar region into the cusp and determine the influences on this morphology. An initial survey of the data is ongoing and we present here an overview of our intended study and some preliminary results.

In this study, mesopause temperatures over a low-latitude station were derived by applying the temperature gradient model technique to data from a meteor radar installation located in Kunming (25.6°N, 103.8°E), China. The estimated temperatures are in good agreement with Sounding of the Atmosphere by Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) temperatures and exhibit clear seasonal and interannual variations with dominant spectral peaks at annual, semiannual, quasi 90 day, and terannual oscillations. However, the amplitudes of the temperature fluctuations and the dominant spectral peaks are larger than those from SABER. An improved method that accounts for the temperature sensitivity of the slope estimated from the meteor radar data was developed to calibrate the larger fluctuations obtained using the temperature gradient model technique. The resulting calibrated temperatures are more consistent with SABER observations, and the accuracy of the derived temperatures is significantly improved.

The occurrence patterns of ionospheric irregularities during quiet geomagnetic conditions over the African lowlatitude region were analysed. GNSS-derived Total Electron Content of the ionosphere data during the period 2001-2012 were used. The data were obtained from Libreville, Gabon (0.35°N, 9.68°E, geographic, 8.05°S, magnetic), Mbarara, Uganda (0.60°S, 30.74°E, geographic, 10.22°S, magnetic), and Malindi, Kenya (2.99°S, 40.19°E, geographic, 12.42°S, magnetic). The rate of change of total electron content index greater than 0.5 TECU/Min were considered as severe ionospheric irregularities. For most of the time, the strength of ionospheric irregularities in March equinox were greater than those during September equinox over East Africa and an opposite observation was made over West Africa. These asymmetries might be due to the direction of the meridional winds during equinoxes over the different stations. Severity of ionospheric irregularity reduced from west towards the east. This might have been related to the decreasing geomagnetic field strength from east towards the west. This is the first study that reveals the equinoctial asymmetry is different in the West and East African sectors. Moreover, the importance of this study lies in the fact that it has used extensive data to examine the isolated and un-explained earlier observations of equinoctial asymmetry and longitudinal variation of ionospheric irregularities over the African lowlatitude region.

Numerous NLC sightings have occurred in recent years at latitudes as low as ~ 40N in the skies over Chicago, Illinois, Boulder, Colorado, Omaha, Nebraska, Logan, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Calar Alto, Spain and Paris, France. While no confirming evidence has come forth thus far, such sightings raise the natural question about whether there are systematic NLC increases occurring at these lowlatitudes. This question is investigated using observations of temperature made by the SABER instrument on the TIMED satellite over the 2002 to 2011 time period, a 7-year water vapor climatology developed from data collected by the MLS instrument on the Aura satellite for 2005 to 2011, and Polar Mesospheric Cloud (PMC) measurements made by the OSIRIS instrument on the Odin satellite for the 2002 to 2011 period. These data are used in conjunction with a 0-D thermodynamic equilibrium model [Hervig et al., 2009] that assumes mesospheric ice is in equilibrium with available water vapor. The 0-D model has proven to be effective in reproducing variations of the observed ice mass density, ice layer centroid height [Russell et al., 2010], and daily PMC occurrence frequency on intra-seasonal scales. Inter-annual and decadal scale variations in the northern PMC season are examined in this paper. All analyses were performed on the 0.00464 hPa surface or ~ 84 km, which is the northern hemisphere mean cloud height. Both MLS 0-D and OSIRIS measured PMCs agree well with the SABER 0-D results for 2005 to 2011. Results show a statistically significant upward trend in the number of 0-D derived PMCs per season in the latitude range 40-55N for 2002 - 201l. The long-term increases in cloud number are accompanied by temperature decreases over the same time period. Analysis of temperature and cloud number anomaly data indicates that the lowlatitude cloud number changes are driven by temperature. Solar cycle effects have not yet been considered in this analysis.

The observations of enigmatic low-latitude glaciogenic sequences during the Sturtian (˜ 750-700 Ma) and the Varanger (˜ 620-570 Ma) glacial intervals of the Neopropterozo& uml;i c era remain the subject of controversial debates concerning possible scenarii. Of the many models that have been proposed to account for theses paradoxical features, the high-obliquity scenario invoked by G.E. Williams (1975) appears to be still largely considered. However, a such scenario requires a dissipative mechanism to bring back the Earth's obliquity from a value higher than 55o to the present value (˜ 23.5o) in less than 200 Ma. Williams (1993) suggested that core-mantle friction could have explained this substantial decrease. However, it was demonstrated by Néron de Surgy and Laskar (1997) and confirmed by Pais et al. (1999) that, not only it requires abnormal values of effective viscosity, but due to the conservation of the angular momentum, it is also largely conflicting with the paleorotation data. D.M Williams et al. (Nature, 1998) recently proposed that ``climate friction" could have produced this decrease in less than 100 Ma between ˜ 600 Ma and 500 Ma. We have revisited in details this mecanism (Levrard and Laskar, submitted to Geo. J. Int., 2002) for the Neoproterozoic glaciations. In response to periodic variations in the obliquity, the redistribution of ice/water mass and the isostatic adjusment to the surface loading affect the dynamical ellipticity of the Earth. Delayed responses in the mass redistribution may introduce a secular term in the obliquity evolution (Bills, 1994; Rubincam, 1995; Ito et al, 1995). We analyze the obliquity-oblateness feedback using non-linear response of ice sheets (Imbrie and Imbrie, 1980) to insolation forcing and layered models with Maxwell visco-elastic rheology. Possible increase in the non-linear response of ice sheets to insolation forcing and latitudinal changes in this forcing strongly limit the contribution of the obliquity

Investigations using optical emissions originating over large spatial extents (latitudes/longitudes) and multiple wavelengths revealed several interesting aspects of vertical and horizontal coupling in the low-latitude thermosphere during daytime. The daytime measurements were enabled by multi-wavelength high spectral resolution echelle grating spectrograph (MISE) that is operating from a low-latitudeobservational site, Hyderabad (Geographic: 17.5 ^{o} N, 78.5 ^{o} E; Geomagnetic: 8.6 ^{o} N, 151.8 ^{o} E), in India. MISE is capable of obtaining daytime optical emissions over a large field-of-view (140 ^{o}) at high-data cadence (around 5 min.) at oxygen emission wavelengths at 557.7 nm, 630.0 nm, and 777.4 nm that originate at 130 km, 230 km, and peak height of the F-region, respectively. Wave dynamics prevalent in multiple altitudes have been obtained during different background conditions. Based on this information various aspects of vertical coupling are investigated. It is seen that there is a preferred phase of solar activity when vertical coupling is enabled more readily. Further, the solar flux seems to affect the wave dynamics differently at different altitudes. The low-latitude electrodynamics also plays an important role in governing the neutral dynamical behaviour which is reflected in the neutral dayglow emissions at multiple wavelengths. These new results reveal greater insights into the fundamental nature of coupling between the thermospheric regions in the daytime. Some of the salient features of these results will be presented.

The dual frequency signals from the GPS satellites recorded at an Indian lowlatitude station Surat (21.16(°) N, 72.78(°) E), situated near the northern crest of the equatorial anomaly have been analysed to study the ionospheric scintillation in terms of amplitude scintillation S_{4} index and Total Electron Content (TEC) for the rising phase of solar activity period from the year 2009 to 2012. In this study we described the diurnal variation of scintillation along with TEC variation, solar activity dependence and effects of a space weather related event, a geomagnetic storms on scintillation. The diurnal variation of scintillation shows co-existence of F region irregularities with a scale length of few kilometers and 400 m as apparent from TEC depletion and ROT fluctuations, which occurred simultaneously during night-time ionospheric scintillation. The number of concurrently occurred scintillation activities with S _{4} _{}> 0.2 and enhancement of ROTI (ROTI>0.5) during different years are brought out. It is found that scintillation occurred with enhancement of ROTI at Surat is at its maximum during the year 2012, 2011 and 2010 followed by a minimum during the year 2009 showing positive correlation with solar activity. Scintillation variations during the geomagnetic storms registered during the period 2011-2012 with Dst

Traveling Convection Vortices (TCVs) occur as solitary localized ~2- 5 mHz transients near the ionospheric footpoint of the dayside magnetopause. Ion foreshock instabilities are now understood to drive all or nearly all TCVs; they generate localized changes in dynamic pressure at the dayside magnetospheric boundary, resulting in transient magnetic field variations that generate field-aligned currents that propagate to the high latitude ionosphere and also compressional waves that produce signatures at geosynchronous orbit and lower latitudes on the ground. In this work we extend earlier multistation event studies by means of a statistical study comparing isolated TCV events observed between 2010 and 2014 by the MACCS array (Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Cleft Studies) in Arctic Canada, GOES-13, and several low-latitude INTERMAGNET magnetic observatories, all in the same longitude sector. We found essentially no correlation between the amplitude of TCV events and the amplitude of magnetic field compressions (ΔB) at GOES-13 and low-latitude ground stations. Comparing TCV amplitudes to time derivatives (dB/dt) at geosynchronous orbit and lowlatitudes, as suggested by published approximate theoretical analyses, resulted in modest correlations. Consistent with earlier studies, the lowlatitude response was strongest at stations under or very near the equatorial electrojet. We also analyzed a set of sudden impulse (SI) events with bipolar high-latitude signatures; the geostationary and lowlatitude compressions associated with them were relatively higher than those for TCVs.

The most frequently used mapping function for converting slant TEC to vertical TEC uses a single layer model with the assumption that all free electrons are concentrated in an infinitesimally thick spherical shell at the mean ionospheric height and containing the ionospheric pierce point. Spatial structures present in the ionosphere are not taken into account in such single layer models. A three dimensional mapping algorithm developed by Mannucci et al. (1999) uses three independent constant density slabs stacked vertically to model the electron density with the result of reduction in a level error of the TEC maps. We describe a new approach based on Computerized Ionospheric Tomography (CIT) to convert STEC to VTEC. The new method is independent of any assumption regarding the electron density distribution of the ionosphere. In this method, the ionosphere region of interest is divided in to pixels and TEC is represented as the sum of the integration of empirical functions within the pixels, which are intersected by the path along which TEC is measured. Using a suitable inversion algorithm, the empirical function within each pixel is retrieved from TEC data recorded simultaneously at a meridional chain of GPS receivers. The VTEC values are then easily obtained as the sum of the integration of the empirical functions within each pixel along a vertical path. The CIT method is applied for converting STEC to VTEC using GPS TEC data collected at 12 locations across India since 2003. The stations are aligned along three meridional chains. The vertical TEC values obtained from the CIT method are then compared to VTEC obtained from a single layer model. Results have shown that the CIT can be suitably adapted as a mapping technique, which takes into account the presence of spatial structures in the ionosphere. Keywords: Ionosphere (Indian equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere, Vertical Total Electron Content, mapping functions, computerized ionospheric tomography)

A simple method of deriving an F-region index that can warn the prediction users at lowlatitudes as to the specific months when they have to be more careful in using the long term predictions is described.

The Fall 1998 SOlar-Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) - Ulysses quadrature occurred when Ulysses was at 5.2 AU, 17.4 deg South of the equator, and off the West line of the Sun. SOHO coronal observations, at heliocentric distances of a few solar radii, showed that the line through the solar center and Ulysses crossed, over the first days of observations, a dark, weakly emitting area and through the northern edge of a streamer complex during the second half of the quadrature campaign. Ulysses in situ observations showed this transition to correspond to a decrease from higher speed wind typical of coronal hole flow to low speed wind. Physical parameters (density, temperature, flow speed) of the lowlatitude coronal plasma sampled over the campaign are determined using constraints from what is the same plasma measured later in situ and simulating the intensities of the Hydrogen Lyman-alpha and OVI 1032 and 1037 Angstrom lines, measured by the Ultra Violet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on SOHO. The densities, temperatures and outflow speed are compared with the same characteristic flow parameters for high-latitude fast wind streams and typical slow solar wind.

We have analyzed five major earthquakes (M>6) that occurred during the year 2015, affecting Indian ionosphere, using F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) data obtained using Digisonde from a lowlatitude station, Delhi (28.6°N, 77.2°E, 42.4°N dip). Normal day-to-day variability occurring in ionosphere is segregated by calculating F2 layer critical frequency variations (ΔfoF2) from the normal quiet time behavior apart from calculating interquartile range. We find that ionospheric F2 region across Delhi by and large shows some significant perturbations 3-4 days prior to these earthquake events. These observed perturbations indicate towards seismo-ionospheric coupling as solar and geomagnetic indices were normally quiet and stable during the period of these events. Further, it was also observed that the effect of earthquake was prominently observed even outside the earthquake preparation zone, calculated using Dobrovolsky et al. [1979].

likely underestimated tropical to subtropical precipitation and evaporation fluxes. The limited latitudinal constraints for earlier isotope mass balance modeling of the Albian hydrologic cycle of the Northern Hemisphere Americas resulted in extrapolated low-latitude precipitation ??18O values that were much heavier (up to 3???) than the values observed in this study. The lighter values identified in this study indicate a more pronounced rainout effect for tropical regions and quite possibly a more vigorous evaporation effect. These and additional low-latitude data are required to better constrain changes in the hydrologic cycle during the Cretaceous greenhouse period, and to reduce the uncertainties resulting from limited geographic coverage of proxy data. ?? 2009 Geological Society of America.

Mountain glaciers have been described as the water towers of world, and for many populations in the low-latitude South American Andes, glacial runoff is vital for agricultural, industrial, and basic water needs. Previous studies of low-latitude Andean glaciers suggest a precarious future due to contemporary warming. These studies have looked at trends in freezing level heights or observations of contemporary retreat. However, regional-scale understanding of low-latitude glacial responses to present and future climate change is limited, in part due to incomplete information about the extent and elevation distribution of low-latitude glaciers. The recently published Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) (5.0) provides the necessary information about the size and elevation distribution of low-latitude glaciers to begin such studies. We determine the contemporary equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) for low-latitude Andean glaciers in the RGI, using a numerical energy balance ablation model driven with reanalysis and gridded data products. Contemporary ELAs tend to fall around the peak of the elevation histogram, with an exception being the southern-most outer tropical glaciers whose modeled ELAs tend to be higher than the elevation histogram for that region (see below figure). Also, we use the linear tends in temperature and precipitation from the contemporary climatology to extrapolate 21stcentury climate forcings. Modeled ELAs by the middle on the century are universally predicted to rise, with outer tropical ELAs rising more than the inner tropical glaciers. These trends continue through the end of the century. Finally, we explore how climate variables and parameters in our numerical model may vary for different warming scenarios from United Nation's IPCC AR5 report. We quantify the impacts of these changes on ELAs for various climate change trajectories. These results support previous work on the precarious future of lowlatitude Andean glaciers, while providing a richer

In this paper, we present low-latitude ionospheric response over Indian longitude to the recent super geomagnetic storm of 17 March 2015, using the Sami2 is Another Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI2) model which incorporates ionosonde-derived vertical drift impacted by prompt penetration eastward electric field occurring during the evening prereversal enhancement (PRE) in the vertical drift. The importance of this storm is that (1) Dst reaches as low as -228 nT and (2) prompt penetration of eastward electric field coincided with evening hours PRE. The daytime vertical E × B drifts in the SAMI2 model are, however, considered based on Scherliess-Fejer model. The simulations indicate a significant enhancement in F layer height and equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the post sunset hours on 17 March 2015 vis-a-vis quiet day. The model simulations during recovery phase, considering disturbance dynamo vertical E × B drift along with equatorward disturbance wind, indicate suppression of the daytime EIA. SAMI2 simulations considering the disturbance wind during the recovery phase suggest that equatorward wind enhances the ionospheric density in the lowlatitude; however, its role in the formation of the EIA depends on the polarity of the zonal electric field. Comparison of model derived total electron content (TEC) with the TEC from ground GPS receivers indicates that model does reproduce enhancement of the EIA during the main phase and suppression of the EIA during the recovery phase of the superstorm. However, peculiarities pertaining to the ionospheric response to prompt penetration electric field in the Indian sector vis-a-vis earlier reports from American sector have been discussed.

This paper presents an investigation of geomagnetic storm effects in the equatorial and lowlatitude F-region in the Brazilian sector during the intense geomagnetic storm on 18 August 2003 SSC 14 21 UT on 17 08 Sigma Kp 52 Ap 108 vert Dst vert max 168 at 1600 UT on 18 08 Simultaneous ionospheric sounding measurements from two stations viz Palmas 10 2 o S 48 2 o W dip latitude 5 7 o S and S a o Jos e dos Campos 23 2 o S 45 9 o W dip latitude 17 6 o S Brazil are presented for the nights of 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 August 2003 quiet disturbed and recovery phases Both stations are equipped with the Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde CADI Quiet and disturbed conditions of the F-region ionosphere are compared using data collected from the two stations The relationship between magnetospheric disturbance and low-latitude ionospheric dynamics and generation of ionospheric irregularities will be discussed The GPS data available from several stations in Rede Brasileira de Monitoramento Cont i nuo de GPS Brazilian Network for Continuous GPS Monitoring are used to obtain the vertical total electron content VTEC and the rate of change of TEC per minute on UT days 18 and 19 August 2003 During the disturbed nights the lowlatitude station S J Campos showed strong positive phase whereas the near equatorial station Palmas showed strong uplifting of the F-layer Normally during the winter months May to August in the Brazilian sector large-scale ionospheric irregularities in form of plasma

For a number of years, the ionospheric electron content (IEC) over the Indian subcontinent has been determined on the basis of the Faraday rotation of satellite radio beacon transmissions. In these determinations, use was made of the orbiting satellites BE-B and BE-C, and, for a limited period, of the geostationary satellite ATS 6. A large variability in day-to-day values of IEC was reported, and it was tried to correlate this phenomenon with magnetic activity, solar flux, or the effect of neutral winds. Tyagi (1978) observed that the day-to-day changes in IEC occur in the form of single day abnormality, and alternate day abnormality. Long-term fluctuations were found with a periodicity of about 45 days. The present investigation is concerned with a more detailed study of the observed variations. An analysis is conducted of IEC data recorded during the low phase of the solar cycle, taking into account data from six low-latitude stations covering a latitude range from approximately 15.0 deg N to 30.0 deg N.

It has been reported that Pi2 pulsations can be excited under extremely quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp=0). However, there have been few comprehensive reports of Pi2 pulsations in such a near ground state magnetosphere. To understand the characteristics of quiet-time Pi2 pulsations, we statistically examined Pi2 events observed on the nightside between 1800 and 0600 local time at the low-latitude Bohyun (BOH, L = 1.35) station in South Korea. We chose year 2008 for analysis because geomagnetic activity was unusually low in that year. A total of 982 Pi2 events were identified when Kp≤1. About 80% of the Pi2 pulsations had a period between 110 and 300 s, which significantly differs from the conventional Pi2 period from 40 to 150 s. Comparing Pi2 periods and solar wind conditions, we found that Pi2 periods decrease with increasing solar wind speed, consistent with the result of Troitskaya (1967). The observed wave properties are discussed in terms of plasmaspheric resonance, which has been proposed for Pi2 pulsations in the inner magnetosphere. We also found that Pi2 pulsations occur quasi-periodically with a repetition period of ˜23-38 min. We will discuss what determines such a recurrence time of Pi2 pulsations under quiet geomagnetic conditions.

To study the activities and the physics of the Earth’s magnetosphere, several types of measurements are made with different kinds of instruments both on earth and in space. Ground based data represent the properties of the solar wind, the Earth’s magnetic field and currents in the magnetosphere. Many of the activities occurring in the magnetosphere are a result of changes in the solar wind. It has been known since the 1860s that the Earth’s magnetic field is fluctuating and during that times the fluctuations are periodical. In this study, a special type of magnetic pulsations in the Earth’s magnetic field called Pi 2 (from MAGDAS stations in Egypt) is investigated and analyzed statistically. We carried out our analysis through two different methods: (i) Fourier transformations and (ii) wavelet power spectrum. The result shows that the Pi 2 observed in the main phase of the geomagnetic storm have larger frequency than those observed in the recovery phase. These results excluded the field line resonance and the plasmapause surface as a possible generation mechanism, and suggest the cavity resonance as a possible generation mechanism of the Pi 2 pulsations at lowlatitude stations in Egypt.

Jellyfish can be asexual and sexual reproduction depending on the environment, and it has excellent environmental adaptability and reproduction than other sea creatures. If the marine environment become worse, jellyfish can take advantage in the competition for survival. Marine environmental changes caused by rapid climate change, dyke construction and land reclamation will increase the amount of jellyfish and as a result can lead to a various social and economic problems. In this study, jellyfish were observed in coastal area using a low-altitude Helikite remote sensing system for the first time. Helikite is a type of helium balloon plus a kite that can get the data with optical sensors for the desired spatial resolutions by adjusting the altitudes. In addition, it has an advantage that can monitor any objects for a long time at one place as long as the electric power and helium last. In this study, we observed the jellyfish patches using a digital camera in the Chesapeake Bay and estimate populations and size of jellyfish patches through image processing. Research results suggests that we can have long-term real-time observations for not only jellyfish, but also other harmful marine creatures.

In this work the authors seek to test a projected relationship between the lowlatitude boundary layer (LLBL) and field aligned currents (FAC), or Birkeland currents. They use the procedure developed by Woch and Lundin for identifying LLBL boundaries. They look for correlations between properties of the FAC and properties of the LLBL. Their results show that in most cases the FAC observed are totally inside the region which exhibits LLBL plasma precipitation. The authors argue that within the biases to their data because of its source, and relative sensitivities, their conclusions support earlier work which argues for the LLBL acting as a source region for FAC features.

Successful attempts have been made in early 1990s to link the possible influence of equatorial stratospheric quasi-biennial-oscillation QBO on tropopause dynamics at longer period scales leading ultimately to the evolution of strong El Nino events of global economic importance Gray et al 1992 GRL JMSJ As a result of this influence it is possible that the tropopause height may be increasing instead of decreasing with latitude from the equator in tropical regions during particular phase of QBO say westerly phase over the equator In the present work we report such observations using radiosonde data obtained from fourteen different tropical 30 N to 30 S radio-sounding stations located in the wide longitudinal zone of South East Asia South Pacific and Africa in the year 2004 The daily tropopause height determined at 00 00 and 12 00 hrs GMT is averaged for each month separately The tropopause height Cold Point Tropopause CPT is determined by noting the height of minimum temperature between 12 and 20 km It is observed further that the latitude variation of tropopause height in southern Hemisphere is much less when compared to that in the Northern Hemisphere The reason for this asymmetric characteristic of tropopause about the equator may be that greater fraction of the northern hemisphere is covered with land and it is ocean in the southern hemisphere Because of large variations in topography of the land and the associated thermal conductivity it is possible that convection activities of the

veena_iig@yahoo.co.in The most obvious indicators of the activity of a solar cycle are sunspots, flares, plages, and soon. These are intimately linked to the solar magnetic fields, heliospheric processes which exhibit complex but systematic variations. The changes in geomagnetic activity, as observed in the ground magnetic records follow systematic correspondence with the solar activity conditions. Thus the transient variations in the magnetic field get modified by differing solar conditions. Also the solar cycle influences the Earth causing changes in geomagnetic activity, the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Daily variations in the ground magnetic field are produced by different current systems in the earth’s space environment flowing in the ionosphere and magnetosphere which has a strong dependence on latitude and longitude of the location. The north-south (Horizontal) configuration of the earth’s magnetic field over the equator is responsible for the narrow band of current system over the equatorial latitudes and is called the Equatorial electrojet (EEJ) and is a primary driver for Equatorial Ionization anomaly (EIA). Equatorial electric fields and plasma drifts play the fundamental roles on the morphology of the lowlatitude ionosphere and strongly vary during geomagnetically quiet and disturbed periods. Quantitative study is done to illustrate the development process of EEJ and its influence on ionospheric parameters. An attempt is also made to examine and discuss the response of the equatorial electrojet parameters to the fast varying conditions of solar wind and interplanetary parameters.

Recordings from OGO 6 show that electric field irregularities are frequently present between + or - 35 deg geomagnetic latitude in the 2000 - 0600 local time sector. The signatures are very clear, and are easily distinguished from the normal AC background noise, and whistler and emission activity. The spectral appearance of the fields makes it meaningful to distinguish between 3 different types of irregularities: strong irregularities, weak irregularities, and weak irregularities with a rising spectrum. Strong irregularities seem most likely to occur in regions where gradients in ionization are present. Changes in plasma composition, resulting in an increase in the mean ion mass, are also often observed in the irregularity regions. Comparison with ground based ionosondes indicates a connection between strong irregularities and lowlatitude spread F. A good correlation is also present between strong fields and small scale fluctuations in ionization, delta N/N 1 percent. From the data it appears as if a gradient driven instability is the most likely source of the strong irregularities.

ESA's constellation mission Swarm was successfully launched on 22 November 2013. The three satellites are orbiting the Earth at 470 km and 520 km altitude. The lower pair Swarm-A and C is flying side-by-side separated by only 1.4° in latitude. Magnetic field readings of this pair are used to determine for the first time field-aligned currents (FAC) uniquely in the ionosphere. Of particular interest for this presentation are FACs at low and equatorial latitudes. Indications for several of such current systems have been deduced from CHAMP observations. Examples to be studied are meridional and vertical currents driven by the F-region dynamo. They are expected to show opposite polarities between noon and sunset. Likewise there are FACs expected to balance the electric potential differences between the foci of the Sq current vortices in the two hemispheres, which should be most prominent during solstice seasons. Another example is the FAC associated with equatorial plasma bubbles. They are expected to flow along the walls of the electron density depleted volume. Due to the limited amount of suitable Swarm data we will focus on June solstice and September equinox 2014 for this presentation.

One of the earliest discoveries in palaeoceanography was the observation in 1935 that the (sub)tropical planktic foraminifer Globorotalia menardii became absent or extremely rare in the Atlantic Ocean during glacials of the late Pleistocene. Yet a mechanistic explanation for G. menardii's extraordinary biogeographic behaviour has eluded palaeoceanographers for 75 years. Here we show that modern G. menardii, along with two other species that also suffer Atlantic population collapses during glacials, track poorly ventilated waters globally in their thermocline habitats. The ventilation states of lowlatitude thermoclines are 'set', to a first order, by intermediate water masses originating at high latitudes. In the modern Atlantic this control on lowlatitude thermocline ventilation is exerted by relatively poorly ventilated, southern-sourced Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) and sub-Antarctic Mode Water (SAMW). We suggest that the glacial Atlantic foraminifer population collapses were a consequence of a lowlatitude thermocline that was better ventilated during glacials than it is today, in line with geochemical evidence, and driven primarily by a well-ventilated, northern-sourced intermediate water mass. A ventilation mechanism driving the glacial population collapses is further supported by our new constraints on the precise timing of these species' Atlantic proliferation during the last deglaciation — occurring in parallel with a wholesale, bipolar reorganisation of the Atlantic's thermocline-to-abyssal overturning circulation. Our findings demonstrate that a bipolar seesaw in the formation of high latitude intermediate waters has played an important role in regulating the population dynamics of thermocline-dwelling plankton at lower latitudes.

The equatorial ionosphere presents some of the highest TEC values in the world coupled with observations of periodic structures. Total Electron Content (TEC) and scintillation data were analyzed from a chain of stations Calcutta (22.58°N, 88.38°E geographic; 32°N magnetic dip), Baharampore (24.09°N, 88.25°E geographic; 35°N magnetic dip) and Farakka (24.79°N, 87.89°E geographic; 36.04°N magnetic dip) situated almost same meridian (88.5°E) during September 2011 and March-April 2012 for elevation greater than 20° so that the ionosphere can be tracked from the 15.50°N south of Calcutta to 31.80°N north of Farakka. Periodic variation of TEC was noticed before TEC bite out, predominantly within a particular latitudinal swath (19°N ‒26°N) along 88.5°E meridian. No periodic structures were observed over the magnetic equator during the observation period on ionosonde records from the magnetic equator station Trivandrum and COSMIC, GRACE and C/NOFS electron density measurements. The present paper reports, perhaps for the first time from the Indian longitude sector, confinement of such periodic structures in TEC primarily within a latitude swath of 19.00-26.00 °N almost along the same longitude of 88.5 °E.

Since its launch in March of 2015, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has captured thousands of high resolution magnetopause crossings, routinely resolving the sub-Larmor radius structure of the magnetopause boundary layer for the first time. The primary goal of MMS is to understand the microphysics of magnetic reconnection, and it is well on its way to achieving this objective. However, MMS is also making routine measurements of the electron and ion gyroviscous and heat flux tensors with unprecedented resolution and accuracy. This opens up the possibility of directly observing the physical processes that facilitate momentum and energy transport across the magnetopause boundary layer under arbitrary conditions (e.g., magnetic field geometry and flow shear) far from the reconnection X line. Currently, our global magnetosphere fluid models (e.g., resistive or Hall MHD) do not include accurate descriptions of viscosity and heat flow, both of which are known to be critical players at the magnetopause (not just at the reconnection sites), and several groups are attempting to make progress on this difficult fluid closure problem. In this talk, we will address the fluid closure problem in the context of MMS observations of the LowLatitude Boundary Layer (LLBL), focusing on high resolution particle observations by the Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI). FPI electron bulk velocities are accurate enough to compute current density in both the high density magnetosheath and low density magnetosphere and have already revealed that the LLBL has a complex parallel current structure on the proton Larmor radius scale. We discuss the relationship between these parallel currents and the Hall electric field structures predicted by kinetic models. We also present first observations of the ion and electron gyroviscous and heat flux tensors in the LLBL and discuss implications for the fluid closure problem at Earth's magnetopause.

Continuous ground-based observations of ionospheric and magnetospheric regions are critical to the Geospace Environmental Modeling (GEM) program. It is therefore important to establish clear intercalibrations between different ground-based instruments and satellites in order to clearly place the ground-based observations in context with the corresponding in situ satellite measurements. HF-radars operating at high latitudes are capable of observing very large spatial regions of the ionosphere on a nearly continuous basis. In this paper we report on an intercalibration study made using the Polar Anglo-American Conjugate Radar Experiment radars located at Goose Bay, Labrador, and Halley Station, Antarctica, and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites. The DMSP satellite data are used to provide clear identifications of the ionospheric cusp and the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL). The radar data for eight cusp events and eight LLBL events have been examined in order to determine a radar signature of these ionospheric regions. This intercalibraion indicates that the cusp is always characterized by wide, complex Doppler power spectra, whereas the LLBL is usually found to have spectra dominated by a single component. The distribution of spectral widths in the cusp is of a generally Gaussian form with a peak at about 220 m/s. The distribution of spectral widths in the LLBL is more like an exponential distribution, with the peak of the distribution occurring at about 50 m/s. There are a few cases in the LLBL where the Doppler power spectra are strikingly similar to those observed in the cusp.

Geomagnetic sudden commencements (SCs) are known as one of the distinct magnetospheric disturbance phenomena triggered by solar wind disturbances. Many previous studies have focused on the generation mechanism of SCs by using in-situ observations and simulations. However, the global evolution of ionospheric electric fields has primarily been estimated from the ionospheric current. Although a few studies utilized electric field data from radar observations, the coverage is limited in time, and limited component of the electric field is obtained. In this study, we investigated the response and local time dependence of the ionospheric electric field at mid-lowlatitudes associated with 203 SCs occurred from 1999 to 2004 by the in-situ observation of the ROCSAT-1 spacecraft. We found that the ionospheric electric field associated with SCs instantaneously responds to geomagnetic fields regardless of spacecraft local time. Our statistical analysis also showed the instantaneous response of the electric field, which indicates the global instant transmission of the electric field from polar region. In contrast, peak times in the preliminary impulse (PI) and main impulse (MI) phases were different between the ionospheric electric field and equatorial geomagnetic field (20 sec in the PI phase). Based on a comparison to the ground-ionosphere waveguide model by Kikuchi [2014], this time lag is suggested to be due to the latitudinal difference of the ionospheric conductivity. After constructing the local time distribution of the SC amplitude, we found that the dayside feature was seen at 18-22 h even the ionospheric conductivity is lower than that at dayside. We performed a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation for an ideal SC. The result of the simulation showed that the electric potential distribution is asymmetric with respect to the noon-midnight meridian, which is similar to our observational result. It appears to result from the divergence of the Hall current under the non

The present paper investigates the response of the equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere over the Indian longitudes to the events on 29 October 2003 using ionosonde data at Trivandrum (8.5° N (0.5° N geomagnetic), 77° E) and SHAR (13.7° N (5.7° N geomagnetic), 80.2° E), ground-based magnetometer data from Trivandrum and Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from GPS data at the locations of Ahmedabad (23° N (15° N geomagnetic), 72° E), Jodhpur (26.3° N (18.3° N geomagnetic), 73° E) and Delhi (28° N (20° N geomagnetic), 77° E). Following the storm sudden commencement, the TEC at all the three stations showed an overall enhancement in association with episodes of inter-planetary electric field penetration. Interestingly, real ionospheric height profiles derived using the ionosonde data at both Trivandrum and SHAR showed significant short-term excursions and recoveries. In the post noon sector, these features are more pronounced over SHAR, an off equatorial station, than those over Trivandrum indicating the increased effects of neutral winds.

Drifting structures characterized by inhomogeneities in the spatial electron density distribution at ionospheric heights cause the scintillation of radio waves propagating through. The fractional electron density fluctuations and the corresponding scintillation levels may reach extreme values at lowlatitudes during high solar activity. Different levels of scintillation were observed on experimental data collected in the Asian sector at lowlatitudes by means of a GPS dual frequency receiver under moderate solar activity (2005). The GPS receiver used in these campaigns was particularly modified in firmware in order to record power estimates on the C/A code as well as on the carriers L1 and L2. Strong scintillation activity was recorded in the post-sunset period (saturatingS4 and SI as high as 20 dB). Spectral modifications and broadening was observed during high levels of scintillation possibly indicating refractive scattering taking place instead of diffractive scattering. A possible interpretation of those events was attempted on the basis of the refractive scattering theory developed by Uscinski (1968) and Booker and MajidiAhi (1981).

The response of the equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere-thermosphere system to the geomagnetic storm during 23-26 August 2005 is investigated. The study is carried out using the vertical total electron content (VTEC) measured by GPS receivers along the 77-78°E longitude and the O/N2 ratio obtained from the Global Ultraviolet Imager instrument on board the TIMED satellite. The equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) shows a poleward latitudinal expansion on 24 August, probably associated with an eastward prompt-penetration electric field. The equatorial and lowlatitudes show an increase in VTEC during the main phase of the storm on 24 August. The prompt-penetration eastward electric field, along with an increase in the O/N2 ratio, could be responsible for this observed positive phase. The VTEC variations on 24 August also reveal the signature of a large-scale acoustic gravity wave/traveling atmospheric disturbance propagating with a horizontal velocity of ˜750 m/s. Suppression of the EIA is observed during the storm recovery phase on 25 August, which probably is associated with the westward disturbance dynamo electric field and the equatorward expansion of the neutral composition changes (O/N2 depletion).

The author looks for a correlation between two different atmospheric effects. They are a positive atmospheric storm (an anomalous increase in the F2 region ionization density), observed at middle latitudes, and the geomagnetic activity effect (the anomalous changes of temperature and gas density seen in the thermosphere), observed at lowlatitudes. A temporal correlation is sought to test the argument that both of these effects are the result of travelling atmospheric disturbances (TAD). A TAD is a pulselike atmospheric wave thought to be generated by substorm activity, and to propagate with high velocity (600 m/s) from polar latitudes toward equatorial latitudes. The author looks at data from five separate events correlating magnetic, ionospheric, and neutral atmospheric measurements. The conclusion is that there is a positive correlation between magnetic substorm activity at high latitudes, and positive ionospheric storms at middle latitudes and geomagnetic activity at lowlatitudes. The time correlations are consistent with high propagation speeds between these events. The author also presents arguments which indicate that the middle latitude positive ionospheric storms are not the result of electric field effects.

Gadanki radar observations of the low-latitude mesospheric echoes studied earlier have shown that while both occurrence rate and signal-to-noise ratio of the mesospheric echoes peak in the equinoxes turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rate and eddy diffusivity, estimated using spectral width of these echoes, peak in the summer. This seasonal difference is apparently inconsistent with the understanding that the mesospheric echoes are generated by turbulence. In this paper, we analyze Gadanki radar observations of mesospheric echoes made during 2011 and 2012 and study seasonal variations in reflectivity and TKE dissipation rate in an attempt to address the aforementioned puzzle. We show that both reflectivity and TKE dissipation rate in the mesosphere show semiannual variations peaking in the equinoxes, which are vastly different from those reported earlier. We also show that seasonal variations in reflectivity and TKE dissipation rate have a close correspondence with gravity wave activity. These results are found to be consistent with the gravity wave breaking hypothesis generating turbulence and radar echoes in the low-latitude mesosphere.

The interface region between the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at mid and lowlatitudes remains one of the most poorly understood regions of the atmosphere. The altitude range between 90 and 110 km is characterized by rapid changes with height in the turbulence characteristics. Observational data have shown evidence for a transition from more isotropic to stratified turbulence at scales of a few hundred kilometers and, furthermore, the dominance of stratified turbulence in the region immediately above the nominal turbopause height before molecular diffusion becomes dominant. The turbulence characteristics not only influence the transport of mass, energy, and momentum, but may also affect the generation of bulk mean flows. The same region is characterized by large winds and shears. Winds similar to those that are observed are beginning to appear in general circulation models as the spatial resolution in the models improves, but the drivers for the winds are still generally unknown or poorly understood. The influence of plasma and electrodynamical processes become increasingly important with increasing height and can change the effective Coriolis force, which in turn affects planetary wave propagation. In addition, the observational evidence suggests that there is a rapid and generally unexplained increase in the magnitude of the vertical velocities across this transition region with vertical winds of 10 or more meters per second over periods of several hours. The drivers and effects of such large vertical winds are not understood at all. The unique dynamical properties of the mesosphere/lower thermosphere region will be described and arguments will be presented that critical parameters for understanding the various aspects of the dynamics of the region are the vorticity and divergence.

In this paper, we analyze the TEC data for April 2013 observed at Agra station, India (geogr. lat. 27.2° N, long. 78° E) to examine the effect of earthquake of magnitude M = 7.8 which occurred on 16 April 2013 at Pakistan-Iran border region. We process the TEC data using the σ statistical criterion to find out anomalous variation in TEC data. We also study the VLF propagation signal from NPM, Hawaii (21.42° N, 158° W), which is monitored at the same station (Agra station) in the light of this earthquake as well as solar flares. The nighttime fluctuation method is used to analyze the VLF data for the period of ±5 days from the day of earthquake (11-21 April 2013). The anomalous enhancements and depletions are found in TEC data on 1-9 days before the occurrence of event.

We investigate the effects of solar activity variation on the topside nighttime ionosphere of the lowlatitude region using the DMSP F15 data taken at 840 km altitude as well as the KOMPSAT-1 data taken at 685 km altitude. The change of the ionospheric parameters shows a good correlation with F 10.7 variations, in accordance with 27-day solar rotations. The correlation is especially good when a time delay of 1 to 2 days is incorporated and when the F 10.7 variation is large. Vertical drift velocities and the oxygen ion fractions, observed by DMSP F15, are also seen to have good correlations with F 10.7 with similar time delays. We suspect the delayed correlation of the ionospheric response is closely related to the neutral density changes affected by the solar activity as it has been reported that changes in the solar soft X-rays and the neutral density are well correlated with a delay of approximately 1.5 days. We also compare the ionospheric response for the solar maximum period with that of the declining phase using the data for the period 2000 through 2004 during which average F 10.7 varied from over 200 to around 100. The density does not seem to saturate at high F 10.7 values even during the solar maximum phase, in contrast to the daytime ionospheric response reported previously. The density during the low solar activity cycle is observed to be lower than that of the high solar activity for the same F 10.7 values, implying the long term dependence of the ionosphere in addition to the prompt response of 1 to 2 days.

To understand the physics of an ionospheric E-F valley, a new overlapping three-Chapman-layer model is developed to interpret the sounding rocket measurement in the morning (sunrise) on May 7, 2011 at the Hainan lowlatitude ionospheric observation station (19.5°N, 109.1°E). From our model, the valley width, depth and height are 43.0 km, 62.9% and 121.0 km, respectively. From the sounding rocket observation, the valley width, depth and height are 42.2 km, 47.0% and 123.5 km, respectively. The model results are well consistent with the sounding rocket observation. The observed E-F valley at Hainan station is very wide and deep, and rapid development of the photochemical process in the ionosphere should be the underlying reason.

Increased concentration of greenhouse gases due to anthropogenic activities warm the troposphere and have a cooling effect in the middle and upper atmosphere. Ionospheric densities and heights are affected due to cooling. Carbon dioxide is one of the most dominant gases for the cause of long term ionospheric trends along with other radiatively active greenhouse gases. Regular ionospheric soundings are made over Ahmedabad (23.1°N, 72.7°E), since 1953. Long term changes in the ionosphere as a consequence of the cooling of the mesosphere and thermosphere due to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases have been studied. Ionospheric observations over Ahmedabad, a lowlatitude station in the anomaly crest region, for the years 1955-2003 are examined to study the long term changes in the critical frequencies of the various ionospheric layers and the height of the maximum ionization as characterized by hPF2. A decrease in foF2 (1.9 MHz for midday, 1.4 MHz for midnight) and hPF2 (18 km for midday, 17 km for midnight) during about five decades are noted. An increase is noted in foF1 (0.4 MHz). The foF2 data are also examined over an equatorial station Kodaikanal (10.2°N, 77.5°E), situated near the magnetic equator for the years 1960-1995 and a decrease of 0.5 MHz for midday and 0.7 MHz for midnight are noted in ~35 years.

The response of the ionosphere along 100°E to the strong geomagnetic storm of 17-18 March 2015 has been investigated combining TEC and NmF2 data from multiple stations spanning lowlatitudes in the northern and southern hemispheres to the equator. The GPS TEC data measured over Dibrugarh (27.4°N, 95°E), Kohima (25.6°N, 94.1°E) and Ahmedabad (23.0°N, 72.5°E) and NmF2 measured along a chain of ionosonde stations Dibrugarh (27.5°N, 95°E), Chiang Mai (18.76ºN, 98.93ºE), Chumphon (10.72ºN,99.37ºE), Kototabang (0.2ºS,100.32ºE) and Cocos Island (12.2ºS,96.8ºE ) were used to examine the signature of the storm around the low-mid latitude ionosphere in this sector. Nearly similar TEC variation has been observed over Dibrugarh and Kohima located at the northern edge of the EIA. The maximum TEC on 18 March over Dibrugarh and Kohima was reduced by more than ~80 TECU compared to that on the geomagnetically quiet day of 16 March 2015. In contrast to the substantial reduction in TEC over ~100°E TEC from the ~75°E longitude station Ahmedabad showed insignificant variations on the same day. Strong reduction in NmF2 at the crest of the anomaly in both northern and southern hemisphere (Dibrugarh, Ching Mai and Cocos Island) and enhancement near the equator (Cumphon and Kototbang) has been observed. The O/N2 ratio as obtained from the TIMED/GUVI reduced substantially along 100°E on 18 March compared to other longitude sectors. Equatorward meridional winds depleted the ionization at the crest region and enhanced the same near the equator. No L band scintillation was observed in the evening of 17 March at Dibrugarh and Kohima indicating absence of F region irregularity along this longitude while strong scintillations were observed at 75°E. The reversal of the IMF Bz from southward to northward direction in the dusk to evening sector inhibited the growth of the irregularity due to reversal of the PPEF at 100°E while the PPEF favoured generation and growth of Spread F

The solar minimum period of solar cycle 23 was unusually long and quiet in comparison to other solar minima in last century. Several reports have analyzed its features and its impact under diverse points-of-view. In this work, we analyze the lowlatitude ionosphere behavior in Brazil and its response during this peculiar period. The ionospheric variation is analyzed through typical parameters such as vertical total electron content (VTEC), the peak height of F2 layer and its critical frequency, hmF2 and foF2, in 2008, around the southern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA), in Cachoeira Paulista (22.5o S, 45.0 o W, mag. lat: 16 o S, dip angle: -32.3o) and at an equatorial station, São Luís (2.33o S, 44.2o W, dip angle: -6.7o). VTEC values present a semiannual variation pattern and two well-defined peaks in March and October. Daily maximum values are observed around 15:00 LT. It was observed periodicities observed of 9, 13.5 and 27 days in VTEC and hmF2, mainly at the first and the second half of 2008. These periods match with the observed periods in solar and geomagnetic indexes such as Vsw, Kp and AE and are associated with occurrence of high speed streams (HSS) coming from solar coronal holes. A complex response of the lowlatitude ionosphere is observed, with prominent increases and decreases of VTEC at daytime during the interval of occurrence of HSSs. It is suggested that a combination of several factors such as prompt penetration of electric field, disturbed dynamo electric field, meridional winds, thermal expansion of thermosphere and composition changes of neutral atmosphere are responsible for the high day-to-day variability of the ionosphere

Variations in ionospheric total electron content (TEC) associated with ultralow frequency (ULF) magnetic field variations in the Pc4 (6.7-22.0 mHz) frequency band were observed in the early morning sector. TEC variations were observed by the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut (56.54°N, 280.77°E), which is located near the equatorward edge of the auroral region. Small-amplitude Pc4 ULF waves were observed by the Sanikiluaq ground magnetometer and by the geosynchronous GOES 13 satellite. TEC and magnetic field both exhibited narrowband, highly regular, quasi-sinusoidal waveforms, with high correlation and coherence indicating a clear link between TEC variations and Pc4 ULF activity. Variations in TEC and 30-50 keV electron flux observed by GOES 13 were also highly correlated and coherent. TEC variations observed directly above Sanikiluaq were in antiphase with eastward magnetic field variations on the ground, while TEC variations observed at the footprint of the GOES 13 satellite were in phase with GOES radial magnetic field and 30-50 keV electron flux. Intermittent occurrence of TEC variations observed by multiple GPS satellites indicated a localized ionospheric response to the Pc4 activity. This is the first clear evidence of a TEC response to these so called "giant pulsations (Pgs)." By applying a multisatellite triangulation technique, the phase velocity, group velocity, and azimuthal wave number of TEC variations were also calculated for an interval of highly coherent measurements. The phase and group propagation velocities were 2-7 km/s and 1-3 km/s north and westward, respectively, while the azimuthal wave number ranged from -35 to -310.

This paper presents the variability of the total electron content, VTEC, the ROTI index (proxy of the scintillation index) and the transient variations of the Earth's magnetic field associated to the impacts of solar events during October 2013. The observations are from middle and lowlatitudes in European African longitude sector. During October 2013, there are four solar events reaching the Earth. The two first events, on October 2 and October 8 are CME, the third event on October 14, is a jet of fast solar wind flowing from a solar coronal hole, and the last event on October 30 is a slow solar wind with southward excursions of the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field, associated to CME passing near the Earth. For the four events, the variation of VTEC at middle latitudes is the same and presents an increase of VTEC at the time of the impact followed by a decrease of VTEC, lasting one or several days. At lowlatitudes, no clear common pattern for all the events appears. For the four events the variation of the ROTI index over Africa is different showing the asymmetry between West and East Africa. For the first event, on October 2, the scintillations are not inhibited, for the second and the fourth events on October 8 and 30, the scintillations are inhibited on East Africa and for the third event (high speed solar wind stream), on October 14, the scintillations are inhibited over the whole Africa. The available data allow the full explanation of the observations of October 14, indeed, on this day, there is no post sunset increase of the virtual height h‧F2 at Ascension Island. There is no Pre Reversal Enhancement (PRE) of the eastward electric field; it is this electric field which moves up the F layer, the necessary condition for the existence of scintillation. The analysis of the variations of the Earth's magnetic field at lowlatitudes highlights the presence of the ionospheric disturbance dynamo on October 14, which produces a decrease of the

The lower atmospheric forcing has important roles in the ionospheric variability. However, influences of lower atmospheric gravity waves on the ionospheric variability are still not clear due to the simplified gravity wave parameterizations and the limited knowledge of gravity wave distributions. In this study, we aim to study the longitudinal variations of gravity waves and their impacts of longitudinal variations of low-latitude gravity waves on the ionospheric variability. Our SABER results show that longitudinal variations of gravity waves at the lower boundary of TIME-GCM are the largest in June-August and January-February. We have implemented these low-latitude gravity wave variations from SABER instrument into TIME-GCM model. TIME-GCM simulation results of ionospheric responses to longitudinal variations of gravity waves and physical mechanisms will be discussed.

The C/NOFS satellite has measured ionospheric plasma density irregularities at lowlatitudes on scales larger than 10 km over a full set of seasons. The focus of this study is on data from the Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) from Jan-Dec 2009 for pre-midnight and post-midnight times when the data are most reliable. Correlations between the normalized changes in density and velocity (dni/n and dv-horz,vert) during spread-F events (plasma bubbles through the f-peak) and localized plasma enhancements associated with those events are analyzed and compared to investigate seasonal, spatial, and temporal properties during the 2009 solar minimum conditions. The correlations presented and their relationship to the unusually quiescent background conditions in this epoch challenge our understanding and add significantly to our knowledge of ionospheric irregularity events and distribution statistics at lowlatitudes during solar minimum.

Using reanalysis data, we find that the downstream-propagating quasi-stationary Rossby wave train associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) generally propagates along a high (low)-latitude pathway during warm (cold) El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) boreal winters. Consistent with the different propagation directions of the NAO-related downstream wave train, during the warm (cold) ENSO winters, the NAO is associated with significant 300 hPa geopotential height anomalies over eastern Siberia (the Arabian Sea, the east coast of Asia at around 40°N, and the North Pacific), and the near-surface air temperature perturbations associated with the NAO over the high latitudes of Asia are relatively strong (weak). Based on these differences, we argue that the NAO has two distinct types of downstream influence: a high-latitude type and a low-latitude type. Furthermore, we argue that the two types of NAO's downstream influence are modulated by the intensity of the subtropical potential vorticity (PV) meridional gradient over Africa. When this gradient is weak (strong), as in the warm (cold) ENSO winters, the NAO's downstream influence tends to be of the high (low)-latitude type. These results are further supported by analysis of intraseasonal NAO events. We separate NAO events into two categories in terms of the intensity of the subtropical PV gradient over Africa. Composites of the NAO events accompanied by a weak (strong) subtropical PV gradient show that the NAO-related downstream wave train tends to propagate along a high (low)-latitude pathway.

The authors report a study of Pc 5 wave activity made using the Australia Wide Array of Geomagnetic Stations, to study such wave activity at lowlatitudes. They filtered the signals to look at polarization properties. They found little frequency variation across the latitude or longitude range sampled. There was a general amplitude decrease toward lower latitudes, a variation in the polarization on a daily basis, and phase variations across the array.

The source of the plasma drift structure in the low-latitude ionosphere during magnetically quiet times is generally understood. Nearly all the quiet time electric field structure has been attributed to divergences in the neutral wind current dynamo. However, there are other current drivers active in the lowlatitude ionosphere: a gravity-driven current (g × B drift of O+) and a gradient-pressure current (∇P × B drift of e and O+). The gravity-driven current is important in the development of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and equatorial spread F (ESF) but is ignored in global dynamo electric field models. The gradient pressure and gravity terms in the ionosphere momentum equation normally oppose each other. This paper examines the magnitude of the large-scale electric fields generated by divergences in these lesser currents in a coupled ionosphere-electrodynamics model. The low-latitude electric fields generated by the neutral wind dynamo are altered only slightly by these additional terms. The resulting vertical electric fields (zonal plasma drifts) do not change significantly but the vertical plasma drifts are affected by ˜10 to 15 m/s in the hours before sunrise and after sunset. These low-latitude plasma drift differences are due entirely to the inclusion of the gravity-driven current. The gravity current term produces a downward drift after sunset, which reduces the evening prereversal enhancement. Additionally, the positive vertical drift before sunrise is sometimes large enough to cause a predawn vertical enhancement. The gradient pressure terms can be ignored for large and medium scale ionosphere features.

Reconstructions of the diversity of Precambrian microorganisms suggest a pronounced biotic turnover coinciding with the onset of Neoproterozoic low-latitude glaciation, in which diverse assemblages of organic-walled microfossils known as acritarchs were replaced by assemblages of simple, smooth-walled forms called leiosphaerids, and the remnants of bacterial blooms. This turnover has been interpreted as the mass extinction of eukaryotic phytoplankton and the subsequent proliferation of bacteria. However, the causes of this mass extinction and its exact temporal relationship to the glaciations remain unclear. Here we present palaeontological data from the >742+/-6-Myr-old Chuar Group from Arizona, which indicate that the biotic turnover occurred before the first low-latitude (Sturtian) glaciation, constrained to be between 726 and 660Myr in age. In our record, the turnover is associated with the appearance of abundant and diverse protozoan fossils and a shift to rising total organic carbon, suggestive of increased primary productivity spurred by the influx of nutrients. This is followed by an increase in the ratio of highly reactive iron to total iron, which we interpret as persistent water column anoxia. We therefore conclude that the biotic turnover recorded in the Chuar Group was driven by widespread eutrophication of surface waters, rather than low-latitude glaciation.

During geomagnetic storm, the energy transfer from solar wind to magnetosphere-ionosphere system adversely affects the communication and navigation systems. Quantifying storm impacts on TEC (Total Electron Content) and assessment of modeling capability of reproducing storm impacts on TEC are of importance to specifying and forecasting space weather. In order to quantify storm impacts on TEC, we considered several parameters: TEC changes compared to quiet time (the day before storm), TEC difference between 24-hour intervals, and maximum increase/decrease during the storm. We investigated the spatial and temporal variations of the parameters during the 2006 AGU storm event (14-15 Dec. 2006) using ground-based GPS TEC measurements in the selected 5 degree eight longitude sectors. The latitudinal variations were also studied in two longitude sectors among the eight sectors where data coverage is relatively better. We obtained modeled TEC from various ionosphere/thermosphere (IT) models. The parameters from the models were compared with each other and with the observed values. We quantified performance of the models in reproducing the TEC variations during the storm using skill scores. This study has been supported by the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Model outputs and observational data used for the study will be permanently posted at the CCMC website (http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov) for the space science communities to use.

The authors address the problem of studying the magnetospheric lowlatitude boundary layer (LLBL). A limited number of in situ measurements are available, but for extensive study it will be necessary to learn how this region maps into the polar ionosphere so that extended ground based observations will become possible. They look at Viking passes through the auroral oval, and interpret the ion spectra recorded in terms of precipitating ions. The characteristic ion signatures then allow identification of source regions for these ions, and subsequent projections of these regions earthward. They feel they have found ion signatures of the LLBL in areas predicted by previous work, and that correlations with solar wind density provides support for the magnetosheath origin of these ions.

Analyzing vorticity in the low-latitude boundary layer's plasma dynamics has the potential to reveal structures that constrain possible mechanisms of populating Earth's magnetosphere with solar wind ion species during periods of relatively calm geomagnetic conditions. Using HPCA measurements taken in the boundary layer on the duskside magnetopause, we search for signatures of vorticity in each ion species. The HPCA Radio Frequency (RF) filtering provides a unique method to suppress the overwhelming H+ signal and enables measurement of heavier ion species. By cross-correlating HPCA observations with other instruments of the MMS suite and with solar wind conditions from other heliospheric fleet spacecraft, we build on previous in-situ vorticity studies of the low-latitude boundary layer.

Total Electron Content derived from ionosonde data recorded at Korhogo (Lat=9.33 N, Long =5.43 W, Dip = 0.67 S) are compared to the Internatial Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model predicted TEC for high (1999) and low (1994) solar activity conditions. The result shows that the TEC has a solar activity and seasonal dependence. The IRI predicted values are closer to the observedTEC at high solar activity. However, at low solar activity the IRI overestimates the observedTEC. The deviation is more prominent in equinox during the time range 0900 to 2300 local time. The deviation is estimated to 60% of the observedTEC.

This study presents models of geomagnetically quiet time probability of occurrence of ionospheric irregularities over the African lowlatitude region. GNSS-derived ionospheric total electron content data from Mbarara, Uganda (0.60°S, 30.74°E, geographic, 10.22°S, magnetic) and Libreville, Gabon (0.35°N, 9.68°E, geographic, 8.05°S, magnetic) during the period 2001-2012 were used. First, we established the rate of change of total electron content index (ROTI) value associated with background ionospheric irregularity over the region. This was done by analysing GNSS carrier-phases at L-band frequencies L1 and L2 with the aim of identifying cycle slip events associated with ionospheric irregularities. We identified at both stations a total of 699 events of cycle slips. The corresponding median ROTI value at the epochs of the cycle slip events was 0.54 TECU/min. The probability of occurrence of ionospheric irregularities associated with ROTI ≥ 0.5 TECU / min was then modelled by fitting cubic B-splines to the data. The aspects the model captured included diurnal, seasonal, and solar flux dependence patterns of the probability of occurrence of ionospheric irregularities. The model developed over Mbarara was validated with data over Mt. Baker, Uganda (0.35°N, 29.90°E, geographic, 9.25°S, magnetic), Kigali, Rwanda (1.94°S, 30.09°E, geographic, 11.62°S, magnetic), and Kampala, Uganda (0.34°N, 32.60°E, geographic, 9.29°S, magnetic). For the period validated at Mt. Baker (approximately, 137.64 km, north west), Kigali (approximately, 162.42 km, south west), and Kampala (approximately, 237.61 km, north east) the percentages of the number of errors (difference between the observed and the modelled probability of occurrence of ionospheric irregularity) less than 0.05 are 97.3, 89.4, and 81.3, respectively.

Upper-level disturbances (ULDs) penetrating from the extratropics into lowlatitudes are a frequent feature of the synoptic-scale circulation over the North Atlantic and can be involved in significant weather events such as heavy precipitation over the western and northern parts of Africa, or Saharan dust outbreaks. While linear Rossby-wave theory successfully explains many climatological characteristics of ULDs, the factors controlling the evolution of individual disturbances are still not well understood. To date work on this matter is mainly based on statistical analysis of observational data or case studies with numerical models. The present project is the first to systematically explore the huge dynamical information content of long-term data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational ensemble prediction system (EPS). A potential vorticity (PV) based algorithm adapted from Wernli & Sprenger (2007) is used to detect ULDs. The algorithm is first applied to operational ECMWF analysis fields to identify dates of ULD occurrence. EPS forecasts for these events are then examined at different lead times. The first objective of this study is an evaluation of the EPS forecast quality focussing on latitudinal, but also on longitudinal displacement in the forecasts. The second objective is an assessment of the predictability of ULD systems, which is done on the basis of the ensemble spread (standard deviation of all ensemble members) and the root mean square error between the analysis and the ensemble forecasts at verification time. A comparison of calculations from several areas and variables is done: (A) PV in the area of the analysed streamer only, (B) PV in a rectangular box around the streamer and (C) geopotential height at 500hPa in the defined box. It is shown that for such limited domains forecasts of ULDs are highly underdispersive (RMSE much larger than spread). The dynamical causes of ensemble divergence are investigated

Production rates of cosmogenic nuclides at the earth's surface are controlled by the intensity of energetic cosmic-ray nucleons, which changes rapidly with elevation. An incomplete knowledge of how nucleon fluxes vary with elevation remains a major obstacle to utilizing cosmogenic nuclides as geochronometers in applications requiring highly accurate ages. One problem is that attenuation characteristics depend on nucleon energy. Measurements of high-energy (> 50 MeV) nucleon fluxes tend to give shorter attenuation lengths than low-energy (< 1 MeV) fluxes, but these differences are not well characterized due to a lack of data at lower energies. Another problem is that the atmospheric attenuation length for nucleon fluxes varies with the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity (a parameter related to geomagnetic latitude), RC, and that there has been an incomplete mapping of nucleon fluxes at high RC (low geomagnetic latitude). We report new measurements of nucleon fluxes from altitude transects in Hawaii ( RC = 12.8 GV) and Bangalore, India ( RC = 17.3 GV). Our measurements in Hawaii of low-energy neutrons (median energy 1 eV) and energetic nucleons (median energy 140 MeV) confirm that nucleon scaling functions are energy-dependent in the range of energies at which cosmogenic nuclides are produced. Our measurements in southern India extend our previously reported scaling model for spallation reactions [D. Desilets, M. Zreda, Spatial and temporal distribution of secondary cosmic-ray nucleon intensity and applications to in situ cosmogenic dating. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 206 (2003) 21-42] from RC = 13.3 GV to RC = 17.3 GV, nearly the highest cutoff rigidity on earth. The anomalously high cutoff rigidity over India provides a geomagnetic shielding condition that is effectively the same as would be observed at the geomagnetic equator in a dipole field with an intensity 1.2 times the modern value. This makes it possible to scale low-latitude production rates to paleomagnetic fields

The Vector Electric Field Investigation (VEFI) suite onboard the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) spacecraft includes a sensitive fluxgate magnetometer to measure DC and ULF magnetic fields in the lowlatitude ionosphere. The instrument includes a DC vector measurement at 1 sample/sec with a range of +/- 45,000 nT whose primary objective is to provide direct measurements of both V x B and E x B that are more accurate than those obtained using a simple magnetic field model. These data can also be used for scientific research to provide information of large-scale ionospheric and magnetospheric current systems, which, when analyzed in conjunction with the C/NOFS DC electric field measurements, promise to advance our understanding of the electrodynamics of the lowlatitude ionosphere. In this study, we use the magnetic field data to study the temporal and local time variations of the ring currents during geomagnetic storms. We first compare the in situ measurements with the POMME (the POtsdam Magnetic Model of the Earth) model in order to provide an in-flight "calibration" of the data as well as compute magnetic field residuals essential for revealing large scale external current systems. We then compare the magnetic field residuals observed both during quiet times and during geomagnetic storms at the same geographic locations to deduce the magnetic field signatures of the ring current. As will be shown, the low inclination of the C/NOFS satellite provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of the ring current as a function of local time, which is particularly insightful during periods of magnetic storms. This paper will present the initial results of this study.

Geomagnetic field data with high time resolution (typically 1 s) have recently become more commonly acquired by ground stations. Such high time resolution data enable identifying Pi2 pulsations which have periods of 40-150 s and irregular (damped) waveforms. It is well-known that pulsations of this type are clearly observed at mid- and low-latitude ground stations on the nightside at substorm onset. Therefore, with 1-s data from multiple stations distributed in longitude around the Earth's circumference, substorm onset can be regularly monitored. In the present study we propose a new substorm index, the Wp index (Wave and planetary), which reflects Pi2 wave power at low-latitude, using geomagnetic field data from 11 ground stations. We compare the Wp index with the AE and ASY indices as well as the electron flux and magnetic field data at geosynchronous altitudes for 11 March 2010. We find that significant enhancements of the Wp index mostly coincide with those of the other data. Thus the Wp index can be considered a good indicator of substorm onset. The Wp index, other geomagnetic indices, and geosynchronous satellite data are plotted in a stack for quick and easy search of substorm onset. The stack plots and digital data of the Wp index are available at the Web site (http://s-cubed.info) for public use. These products would be useful to investigate and understand space weather events, because substorms cause injection of intense fluxes of energetic electrons into the inner magnetosphere and potentially have deleterious impacts on satellites by inducing surface charging.

This paper presents the annual, seasonal and diurnal variations in ionospheric TEC along the African equatorial region. The study also investigated the effects of a geomagnetic storm on ionospheric TEC values. Dual-frequency GPS derived TEC data obtained from four stations within the African equatorial region for the high solar activity year 2012 were used in this study. Annual variations showed TEC having two peaks in the equinoctial months, while minima values were observed in the summer and winter solstices. The diurnal pattern showed a pre-dawn minimum, a steady increase from about sunrise to an afternoon maximum and then a gradual fall after sunset to attain a minimum just before sunrise. Nighttime enhancements of TEC were observed mostly in the equinoctial months. There was comparably higher percentage TEC variability during nighttime than daytime and highest during equinoxes, moderate in winter and least during summer solstice. TEC was observed to exhibit a good correlation with geomagnetic storm indices.

In this paper, the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) is derived from 250 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers over China. The GNSS TEC data are utilized to study the diurnal and day-to-day variability of ionosphere, ionospheric east-west differences and to construct regional ionospheric map. The GNSS-TEC curves clearly show sunrise and sunset enhancements in the diurnal variation. The peak value of TEC is lower in January 2015 than in May 2014. There is 2 h difference in the occurrence time of TEC maximum/minimum between May and January. Compared with the observations of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the measurements from the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) clearly present the ionospheric day-to-day variability and east-west differences in a region with small longitude differences (3.52-11.31°). The east-west differences in TEC are more obvious in larger longitude differences at 11:30 local time on 23 January 2015. The maximum east-west difference in TEC is about 7 total electron content unit (TECU, 1 TECU = 1016 el m-2) in longitude difference of 11.31°. Our analysis shows that the TEC for east-west small longitude differences may be associated with the east-west gradient of geomagnetic declination. Based on 250 GNSS stations, a regional TEC map constructed by Kriging method can well capture the main spatial structure of ionosphere in China. A comparison between TEC maps obtained by Kriging method and provided by Jet Propulsion Laboratory displays that there are large deviations in the North of China, which is mainly caused by the difference in the number of used GNSS stations. In addition, comprehensive investigation presents that GNSS has more advantages over GPS and GLONASS in the ionosphere research over China.

At the beginning of the Indian Middle Atmosphere Programme (IMAP), it was decided that the preparation of consolidation reports of already available parameters for the middle atmosphere would be useful. Atmospheric wind data obtained by rockets and balloons constituted one such parameter which had to be consolidated. The present paper summaries the results of this consolidation study. Both zonal and meridional components of winds at four lowlatitude Indian stations namely Thumba, Shar, Hyderabad, and Balasore, have been analyzed to yield reference wind profiles for each month. The montly mean values have been used to bring out the amplitudes and phases of the annual, semiannual and quasi-biennial oscillations.

The Vector Electric Field Investigation suite on the C/NOFS satellite includes a fluxgate magnetometer to monitor the Earth s magnetic fields in the low-latitude ionosphere. Measurements yield full magnetic vectors every second over the range of +/-45,000 nT with a one-bit resolution of 1.37 nT (16 bit A/D) in each component. The sensor s primary responsibility is to support calculations of both V x B and E x B with greater accuracy than can be obtained using standard magnetic field models. The data also contain information about large-scale current systems that, when analyzed in conjunction with electric field measurements, promise to significantly expand understanding of equatorial electrodynamics. We first compare in situ measurements with the POMME (Potsdam Magnetic Model of the Earth) model to establish in-flight sensor "calibrations" and to compute magnetic residuals. At lowlatitudes the residuals are predominately products of the storm time ring current. Since C/NOFS provides a complete coverage of all local times every 97 min, magnetic field data allow studies of the temporal evolution and local time variations of storm time ring current. The analysis demonstrates the feasibility of using instrumented spacecraft in low-inclination orbits to extract a timely proxy for the provisional Dst index and to specify the ring current s evolution.

New constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean indicate that at ∼90-70 Ma and at ∼50-40 Ma, vast quantities of mafic and ultramafic rocks were emplaced at lowlatitude onto continental crust within the tropical humid belt. These emplacement events correspond temporally with, and are potential agents for, the global climatic cooling events that terminated the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum and the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. We model the temporal effects of CO2 drawdown from the atmosphere due to chemical weathering of these obducted ophiolites, and of CO2 addition to the atmosphere from arc volcanism in the Neo-Tethys, between 100 and 40 Ma. Modeled variations in net CO2-drawdown rates are in excellent agreement with contemporaneous variation of ocean bottom water temperatures over this time interval, indicating that ophiolite emplacement may have played a major role in changing global climate. We demonstrate that both the lithology of the obducted rocks (mafic/ultramafic) and a tropical humid climate with high precipitation rate are needed to produce significant consumption of CO2 Based on these results, we suggest that the low-latitude closure of ocean basins along east-west trending plate boundaries may also have initiated other long-term global cooling events, such as Middle to Late Ordovician cooling and glaciation associated with the closure of the Iapetus Ocean. PMID:27091966

In order to identify the generation mechanisms of low-latitude Pc-4 geomagnetic pulsations, data were obtained from a meridional chain of induction magnetometers spanning L values from 1.4 to 2.7 ([minus]30[degrees] to [minus]52[degrees] geomagnetic latitude). The spatial structure of Pc-4 signal parameters was examined by means of spectral, polarization and interstation phase analysis. The paper describes three typical individual events whose spectral, polarization and phase characteristics indicate the existence of field line resonances at lowlatitudes within the plasmasphere. The spatial phase structure shows a local minimum and indicates phase motion toward the resonance region. Resonance region widths of [Delta]L = 0.2 to [Delta]L = 0.8, corresponding to north-south ionospheric scale lengths of 250 and 1500 km or more, respectively, are seen. The coupling of field line resonances to global compressional modes is considered to be a likely generation mechanism of these pulsations. 49 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.

A climatological response of low-latitude ionosphere to geomagnetic storms is presented using long-term global ionospheric maps data from June 1998 to June 2015 covering two solar cycles 23 and 24. The results are presented for daytime forenoon and afternoon sectors under minor, moderate, and major ionospheric storm categories based on minimum Dst index criterion. For the first time the effectiveness of storms is identified using monthly standard deviation as an indicator of the day to day variability in equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere. Thus, results on climatology are definitive and form a database that would be comparable to statistical results from any other longitude and time. Seasonal statistics for total storms, effective positive and negative storms, and amplitude of mean seasonal perturbation in total electron content are obtained. Total and effective storms are found to be higher in solar cycle 23 than in 24 and only a couple of effective storms occurred during low solar activity 2007-2009 that too in minor category. Afternoon sector is found to be favorable for occurrence of maximum number of effective positive storms. A latitudinal preference is found for a given storm to be effective in either time sectors. Equinoctial asymmetry in ionospheric response both in terms of occurrence and perturbation amplitude is found. September equinoxes are found to bear maximum total, effective positive and negative storms. Winters are found more prone to negative storms, whereas summers have recorded minimum number of either of storms and minimum perturbation amplitudes.

The Vector Electric Field Investigation suite on the C/NOFS satellite includes a fluxgate magnetometer to monitor the Earth's magnetic fields in the low-latitude ionosphere. Measurements yield full magnetic vectors every second over the range of +/- 45,000 nT with a one-bit resolution of 1.37 nT (16 bit AID) in each component. The sensor's primary responsibility is to support calculations of both VxB and ExB with greater accuracy than can be obtained using standard magnetic field models. The data also contain information about large-scale current systems, that, when analyzed in conjunction with electric field measurements, promise to significantly expand understanding of equatorial electrodynamics. We first compare in situ measurements with the POMME (POtsdam Magnetic Model of the Earth) model to establish in-flight sensor "calibrations" and to compute magnetic residuals. At lowlatitudes the residuals are predominately products of the stormtime ring current. Since C/NOFS provides a complete coverage of all local times every 97 minutes, magnetic field data allow studies of the temporal evolution and local-time variations of stormtime ring current. The analysis demonstrates the feasibility of using instrumented spacecraft in low-inclination orbits to extract a timely proxy for the provisional Dst index and to specify the ring current's evolution.

New constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean indicate that at ˜90-70 Ma and at ˜50-40 Ma, vast quantities of mafic and ultramafic rocks were emplaced at lowlatitude onto continental crust within the tropical humid belt. These emplacement events correspond temporally with, and are potential agents for, the global climatic cooling events that terminated the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum and the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. We model the temporal effects of CO2 drawdown from the atmosphere due to chemical weathering of these obducted ophiolites, and of CO2 addition to the atmosphere from arc volcanism in the Neo-Tethys, between 100 and 40 Ma. Modeled variations in net CO2-drawdown rates are in excellent agreement with contemporaneous variation of ocean bottom water temperatures over this time interval, indicating that ophiolite emplacement may have played a major role in changing global climate. We demonstrate that both the lithology of the obducted rocks (mafic/ultramafic) and a tropical humid climate with high precipitation rate are needed to produce significant consumption of CO2. Based on these results, we suggest that the low-latitude closure of ocean basins along east-west trending plate boundaries may also have initiated other long-term global cooling events, such as Middle to Late Ordovician cooling and glaciation associated with the closure of the Iapetus Ocean.

Oxygen isotope data from planktonic foraminifera for the warm Eocene epoch suggest that tropical sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) may have been cooler than at present. Such data have stimulated various explanations involving, e.g., major changes in ocean heat transport. However, the planktonic data disagree with terrestrial climate proxies, which suggest significantly warmer low-latitude temperatures. We examined this discrepancy by analyzing seasonal oxygen isotope variations in shallow-marine mollusks from the Mississippi Embayment. Results indicate that mean annual SSTs decreased from 26 27 °C in the early Eocene to 22 23 °C in the Oligocene, agreeing well with temperatures inferred from terrestrial climate proxies. These cooling trends, with more significant winter cooling (5 °C) than summer cooling (3 °C), are consistent with the predicted consequences of decreasing atmospheric CO2 concentration through the Paleogene, suggesting that atmospheric CO2 change was a major controlling factor for Paleogene climate change. That winter SST estimates from the mollusks agree well with the foraminiferal SST estimates suggests that planktonic foraminiferal growth in lowlatitudes occurred mainly during the cooler winter months throughout the Eocene. We hypothesize that the unusual hydrography of Eocene oceans shifted foraminiferal productivity primarily to winter, biasing foraminiferal SST estimates of mean annual SSTs.

Following the recent proliferation of dual-frequency GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver systems across the African continent, there is a growing number of papers that compare vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) values derived from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model with those obtained from the GPS receiver measurements. In this work we report an investigation of IRI-vTEC versus GPS-vTEC comparisons for three Nigerian SCINDAGPS stations (Nsukka, Ilorin, and Lagos) for which data are available in the year 2012, and present a further review of the differences/similarities observed between them. Since a major interest in this work is to use the GPS measurements to improve the predictions of the IRI model for the region, we present a detailed regression analysis of differences between the two sources in a manner that will benefit this application.

The Boston University Physics Department was recently awarded a three-year grant from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC). PhysTEC's main aims are to improve the education of future physics teachers, and to increase the number of qualified physics teachers in the school system. Although there have been over 20 PhysTEC-funded sites across the country, BU is the first PhysTEC site in New England. Our goals with this poster are to raise awareness about PhysTEC, and to talk about what we are doing and what we plan to do at BU with our PhysTEC funding. A key part of the PhysTEC program is the teacher-in-residence (TIR), an experienced physics teacher who comes to campus for a year to promote physics teaching as a profession and to lend their experience to education-related efforts. Our first TIR is Juliet Jenkins. The poster will discuss Ms. Jenkins' role in the Department of Physics and in the School of Education as we move forward with new efforts to promote teaching, including a Learning Assistant program, a pilot studio section of one of our introductory physics courses, and a new education course that allows undergraduate students to observe teachers in the classroom.

Characterization and modeling of ionospheric variability in space and time is very important for communications and navigation. To characterize the variations, the ionosphere should be monitored, and the sparsity of the measurements has to be compensated by interpolation algorithms. The total electron content (TEC) is a major parameter that can be used to obtain regional ionospheric maps. In this study, neural networks (NNs), specifically multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) and radial basis function networks (RBFN), are investigated for the merits of their nonlinear modeling capability. In order to assess the performance of MLP and RBFN structures with respect to mapping and ionospheric parameters, these algorithms are applied to synthetically generated TEC surfaces representing various ionospheric states. Synthetic TEC data are sampled homogenously and randomly for a varying number of data points. The reconstruction errors show that the performance improves significantly when homogenous sampling is preferred to random station distribution. The best MLP and RBFN structures for any possible realistic scenario are determined by examining the performance parameters for all possible cases. It is also observed that RBFN with local receptive fields relies more on the number of training data points. In contrast to RBFN, MLP as a global approximator depends strongly on ionospheric trends. Finally, chosen MLP and RBFN models are applied to a set of real GPS-TEC values obtained from central Europe, and their performances are compared with well known Global Ionospheric Maps produced by the International GNSS Service. The resolution and interpolation quality of the generated maps indicate that NNs offer a powerful and reliable alternative to the conventional TEC mapping algorithms.

The extent to which the lowlatitude dawn-dusk magnetic asymmetry is controlled by the dawn-dusk solar wind motional electric field VBs and/or substorm processes measured by the westward auroral electrojet index AL is studied using the technique of empirical linear prediction filters. A new index, (ASYM), defined as the difference between dawn and dusk deviations in the X (geomagnetic Northward) magnetic field component, is used to measure the dawn-dusk asymmetry. Quantitative information which characterizes the coupling processes are provided by the empirically determined filters obtained from this analysis. Results indicate that some currents are directly driven by the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction and that their magnetic perturbations contribute to both the AL and ASYM indices. However, a portion of the AL index that is uncorrelated with VBs is correlated with ASYM which suggests that internal magnetospheric processes also contribute to AL and ASYM.

Nonlinear dynamics of the lowlatitudes E-layer simulated with a systems of differential equations describing the neutral wind driven Farley-Buneman instability and the density-gradient-drift instability as rising bubbles and falling higher electron density spikes. The simulations extent earlier nonlinear studies by using empirical models for the atmosphere and ionosphere backgrounds to give realistic local time-altitude parameters within a Python wrapped F90 simulations. New equations that keep both the compressional and rotational ion flows that apply in the lower F layer are analyzed to describe plumes extending to the peak of the F layer. A ray-tracing technique is used to describe the small angle scattering at high frequency [Gigahertz] GNSS signals treated as rays in the turbulent ionospheric plasma.

It is well known, today, that equatorial ionospheric scintillations affect performance of GPS receivers. Scintillation occurs when a radio wave crosses the ionosphere and suffers distortion in phase and amplitude. It also contributes to loss of lock of GPS receivers, resulting decrease of the number of available satellites and consequently yielding poor satellite geometry. Therefore, the required accuracy and positioning precision for aerial navigation are affected. Among other activities, EMBRACE, the space weather program of INPE, is monitoring and mapping the ionospheric scintillation over the South American equatorial and lowlatitude region in real time. This mapping is available in the internet by means of computer programs that retrieve data from a network of GPS receivers distributed in Brazil. These data are also being used to survey and predict the occurrence of ionospheric scintillation through data mining techniques.

Colors and magnitudes for stars on CCD frames for six metal-rich, low-latitude, previously unstudied globular clusters and one well-studied, metal-rich cluster (47 Tuc) have been derived and color-magnitude diagrams have been constructed. The photometry for stars in 47 Tuc are in good agreement with previous studies, while the V magnitudes of the horizontal-branch stars in the six program clusters do not agree with estimates based on secondary methods. The distances to these clusters are different from prior estimates. Redding values are derived for each program cluster. The horizontal branches of the program clusters all appear to lie entirely redwards of the red edge of the instability strip, as is normal for their metallicities.

We have examined the ULF wave activities in the Egyptian observatories (Misallat and Abu Simbel) using high resolution geomagnetic field data. The fluctuations detected at Misallat (L = 1.23) and Abu Simbel (L = 1.07) ground magnetometers data during last three years have been investigated in the range of 1-100 mHz (Pi2, Pc3, Pc4 and Pc5 micropulsations). A typical Pc3-4 pulsation contains a field line resonance and an upstream wave contribution. We focused on night-time events (1800-0600 local time) which show all the characteristics of Pi2 pulsations. This study suggests that low-latitude Pi2 pulsations detected at the two Egyptian observatories caused by plasmaspheric cavity mode resonance.

We examine the forces that determine zonal wind structure in the low-latitude evening thermosphere and its relation with ion-neutral coupling. These winds drive the evening F region dynamo that affects the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) and the generation of plasma irregularities. Forces are calculated using the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model coupled with the Global Ionosphere-Plasmasphere model. At 19 LT, the horizontal pressure gradient dominates the net acceleration of neutral winds below ˜220 km, while it tends to be offset by ion drag and viscosity higher up. The eastward pressure-gradient acceleration above 200 km increases approximately linearly with height and tends to be similar for different latitudes and different levels of solar activity. The pressure-gradient and ion-drag forces in the central F region approximately balance for field lines that pass through the EIA. Viscosity is an important additional force at non-EIA latitudes and in the bottomside and topside EIA ionosphere. An increase in E region drag on plasma convection due to increased nighttime ionization causes both the ion and neutral velocities in the F region to decrease, while the velocity difference tends to be maintained. The presence of a low-latitude evening time vertical shear in the zonal wind is associated primarily with a strong eastward pressure-gradient acceleration at high altitude that reverses the daytime westward wind and a weak low-altitude pressure-gradient acceleration of either eastward or westward direction that fails to reverse the low-altitude westward wind present in the afternoon.

The paper comments on published and projected thermionic-energy-conversion (TEC) performance trends. This commentary includes graphs and an appendix relating TEC performance parameters, plots of predicted and actual TEC trends, a figure relating projected cost of electricity to overall efficiency for TEC topping, and a discussion of the implications of these relationships.

The equatorial region of the earth is a very appropriate place to study the seeding of the ionospheric irregularities because the magnetic field line is horizontal and thus perpendicular to gravity. Most ionospheric models use equatorial ExB drift velocities as an input parameter in order to predict the structures and dynamics of the ionosphere. Several studies have shown that the daytime vertical ExB drift can be inferred using ground based magnetometer observations. The dataset of horizontal component of the earth magnetic field obtained from a pair of magnetometers, one at the dip equator (Jicamarca) and another off the dip equator (Piura) by 6.8 degrees are analyzed and correlated with the ExB drift velocities measured by the Jicamarca Incoherent Scatter Radar(ISR). The impact of the pattern of equatorial ExB drift on Global Positioning System(GPS)-derived total electron content(TEC) has also been studied. Observational data from the recent solar minimum period (2008-09) for the day to day and seasonal variations of the drifts were examined. Linear regression and multilayer neural network approaches are used to analyze the data. Our study shows that the overall variation of daytime ExB drift during solar minimum can be inferred from ground based magnetometer observations. Observations show a noticeable connection between TEC value and the daytime ExB drift during low solar activity period. We compare the results from our investigation with Jicamarca ISR measurement and the Scherliess-Fejer empirical model on corresponding local time.

Cross-correlation analysis and wavelet transform methods are used to investigate whether high-latitude solar activity leads low-latitude solar activity in time phase or not, using the data of the Carte Synoptique solar filaments archive from 1919 March to 1989 December. From the cross-correlation analysis, high-latitude solar filaments have a time lead of 12 Carrington solar rotations with respect to low-latitude ones. Both the cross-wavelet transform and wavelet coherence indicate that high-latitude solar filaments lead low-latitude ones in time phase. Furthermore, low-latitude solar activity is better correlated with high-latitude solar activity of the previous cycle than with that of the following cycle, which is statistically significant. Thus, the present study confirms that high-latitude solar activity in the polar regions is indeed better correlated with the low-latitude solar activity of the following cycle than with that of the previous cycle, namely, leading in time phase.

Geomagnetic sudden commencements (SCs), characterized by a rapid enhancement in the rate of change of the geomagnetic field perturbation (dB/dt), are considered to be an important source of large geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in middle- and low-latitude power grids. In this study, the extreme interplanetary shock of 23 July 2012 is simulated under the assumption that it had hit the Earth with the result indicating the shock-caused SC would be 123 nT. Based on statistics, the occurrence frequency of SCs with amplitudes larger than the simulated one is estimated to be approximately 0.2% during the past 147 years on the Earth. During this extreme event, the simulation indicates that dB/dt, which is usually used as a proxy for GICs, at a dayside low-latitude substation would exceed 100 nT/min; this is very large for low-latitude regions. We then assess the GIC threat level based on the simulated geomagnetic perturbations by using the method proposed by Marshall et al. (2011). The results indicate that the risk remains at "low" level for the low-latitude power network on a global perspective. However, the GIC risk may reach "moderate" or even "high" levels for some equatorial power networks due to the influence of the equatorial electrojet. Results of this study feature substantial implications for risk management, planning, and design of low-latitude electric power networks.

The development of a thermionic domestic boiler system using natural gas, which as performed under an ECS-project in 1992 to 1994 by a Russian-Dutch team of researchers, will be continued again. Thanks to financial support on the part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the major effort in 1997 to 1999 will be focused on the development, manufacture and testing of an improved, easier to fabricate, more repairable and less expensive combustion heated TEC with a longer life-time. The achievement of the aim of this project will make it possible to expand the field of the terrestrial thermionics application and to embark on the commercialization stage. This report discusses the concept of the combustion heated Cold Seal TEC. A Cold Seal TEC will be developed and tested, in which the rubber O-ring seal will electrically insulate the hot shell from the collector heat pipe. The Cold Seal TEC will use a noble gas + cesium as the working medium (the idea of such a TEC was first proposed in 1973 by Professor Musa from Romania). In its cold state, the cesium will short circuit the emitter and the collector. During operation, the interelectrode space will be filled with cesium vapor. The upper part of a Cold Seal TEC will be filled with a noble gas. This noble gas will prevent the O-ring seal from being attacked by the cesium. The TEC output characteristics will be considerably improved by using electrode materials that were developed earlier in the course of an ECS-project for the development of low temperature TEC electrodes.

A dual dipole antenna has been installed at lowlatitude station Kolhapur (Geographic 16.8°N, 74.25°E), Maharashtra, India for the study of cosmic radio noise absorption using Solid State Riometer (which operates at 30 MHz) during pre phase of 24th solar maxima. The aim for this type of study over Kolhapur was to know the response of lower (D region) ionosphere over lowlatitude by cosmic radio noise absorption using riometer technique during quite period as well as sudden ionospheric disturbances (SID). The observations are being taken for 3 years. Two different sites (˜40 km away from each other) were used for the installation of riometer equipment assuming minimum local noise. It is found that solar noise to cosmic radio noise hence resulting in signal saturation. The night time signal is relatively free of interference but sometimes local noise is responsible for spike-like signatures. Hence it is concluded that Kolhapur (a lowlatitude station) is not suitable for the study of cosmic radio noise absorption on 30 MHz with riometer and dual dipole antenna. Proper choice for operating frequency of riometer and antenna gain is suggested for lowlatitude use of this technique for ionospheric deviative and nondeviative absorption studies.

The most recent global compilations of paleomagnetic depositional latitudes for Proterozoic glaciogenic formations indicate a dominant mode near the paleo-equator (Evans 2000 AJS; Evans 2003 Tectonophysics). This result would therefore support either the snowball Earth or the large-obliquity hypotheses for Precambrian ice ages, but would reject the uniformitarian comparison to polar-temperate-restricted Phanerozoic glaciogenic deposits. The most reliable low-latitude results come from the Australian Marinoan succession, but a recent summary of these units has suggested that a glaciogenic origin is not yet demonstrated (Eyles and Januszczak 2004 Earth-Sci Reviews). It becomes useful, then, to review the global evidence for Proterozoic low-latitude glaciation. Eyles and Januszczak (ibid.) identified 13 Neoproterozoic deposits with "demonstrated" glacial influence. Among these, poor age constraints and lack of paleomagnetic data prohibit estimation of depositional paleolatitudes for the Fiq, Sturtian, Vreeland, Taoudeni, East Greenland, Port Askaig, and Zhengmuguan units. Moderate paleolatitudes are reasonably well supported for the South China, Gaskiers, Smalfjord, and Moelv units. Among the three remaining units, the Rapitan Group can be assigned a near-equatorial paleolatitude indirectly through use of the Galeros and Franklin-Natkusiak paleomagnetic results, as long as the Rapitan age lies within 750-720 Ma as generally expected. The Moonlight Valley Formation in northern Australia may be assigned a tropical paleolatitude according to high-quality paleomagnetic results from compellingly correlated Marinoan strata in southern Australia. Those strata, including the famous Elatina Formation, have yielded a robust paleomagnetic signature that is commonly interpreted to imply frigid climate (manifest in part by frost-wedge polygons) at near-equatorial latitudes. Concerns that the Neoproterozoic geomagnetic field was either nonaxial or nondipolar are valid in principle

An assessment of the reliability of the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite sensor measurements to interpolate tropospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide considering the low-latitude climate of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria was conducted. Monthly SCIAMACHY carbon monoxide (CO) column measurements from January 2,003 to December 2005 were interpolated using ordinary kriging technique. The spatio-temporal variations observed in the reliability were based on proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, seasonal variations in the intensities of rainfall and relative humidity, the presence of dust particles from the Sahara desert, industrialization in Southwest Nigeria and biomass burning during the dry season in Northern Nigeria. Spatial reliabilities of 74 and 42 % are observed for the inland and coastal areas, respectively. Temporally, average reliability of 61 and 55 % occur during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. Reliability in the inland and coastal areas was 72 and 38 % during the wet season, and 75 and 46 % during the dry season, respectively. Based on the results, the WFM-DOAS SCIAMACHY CO data product used for this study is therefore relevant in the assessment of CO concentrations in developing countries within the lowlatitudes that could not afford monitoring infrastructure due to the required high costs. Although the SCIAMACHY sensor is no longer available, it provided cost-effective, reliable and accessible data that could support air quality assessment in developing countries. PMID:25626562

The field-aligned current system associated with traveling convection vortices (TCVs) is rather difficult to characterize due to its transient nature and occurrence at high latitudes on the dayside. Previous studies have demonstrated that for sufficiently large events, TEC variations can be observed during the passage of TCVs. We present the results of a statistical study using high latitude ground magnetometers and TEC receivers to investigate TEC variations during TCV events.

The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) describes the day and night latitudinal variation of ion temperature at 430 km with two functions using AEROS satellite measurements. The ion temperature at this height as one of the boundary parameters is used to make the ion temperature profile represented by a Booker-function. Since the low-latitude and mid-latitude topside ionospheric ion temperature has been measured with the Ionopsheric Plasma and Elec-trodynamics Instrument (IPEI) onboard Rocsat-1 satellite at about 600 km during the high solar activity years from 2000 to 2002, a new boundary at 600 km can be set for the ion temperature modeling. The latitudinal variation of ion temperature could be approximated by Epstein family of functions for different local time sectors. Furthermore, the longitudinal and seasonal variations are also taken into account to decide the fitting parameters. Only the magnetic quiet time data (Kp <3) are used for the statistical study. The results are compared with IRI-2007 model. In addition, events when Kp >4 are also analyzed to feature the ion temperature characteristic during the magnetic disturbance time condition. Combined with the IPEI field-aligned ion flow velocities and the plasma temperatures measured by the Special Sensors-Ions, Electrons, and Scintillation (SSIES) thermal plasma analysis package on board the DMSP F13 and F15 satellites, several feasible ion heating and heat loss mechanisms are summarized to interpret the ion temperature crests and toughs for different local time sectors, seasonal and longitudinal variations.

The EQUIS-2 sounding rocket and radar campaign, launched from Kwajalein Atoll in 2004, included a mission to study low-latitude irregularities and electrodynamics, led by NASA GSFC. This mission included two instrumented rockets launched into the nighttime E region (apogee near 120 km), which included comprehensive electrodynamics and neutral density instrumentation. These rockets carried the first of a new generation of impedance probes, that utilize a wide-band drive signal to simultaneously measure the impedance of an antenna in a plasma as a function of frequency from 7 kEIz to 4 MHz. at a rapid cadence. This technique promises to permit true plasma spectroscopy, and resulted in the identification of multiple plasma resonances and accurate measurements of the plasma density, even in the low density nighttime E region. We present analyses of the technique and resulting spectra, and show how these data may be combined with fixed-bias Langmuir Probe data to infer the temperature structure of the E region as well as providing accurate absolute calibrations for the very high time resolution fixed-bias probe data. The data is shown to agree well with data from ionosonde, the ALTAIR radar, and the Peruvian beacon experiment.

Recently, Pulkkinen et al. (2007, Annales Geophysicae) introduced an approach to predict geomagnetically induced current (GIC) flow in high-voltage power transmission systems based on first-principles modeling of the near-space plasma environment. Their approach that has already been implemented as an experimental real-time system providing forecasts of GIC in the North American power transmission system, however, is applicable only to high-latitude situations. The accumulating new evidence is indicating that GIC is not only a high-latitude phenomenon but is important also at lower latitudes. Consequently, new tools and approaches are called for to address the newly appreciated truly global nature of GIC. In this paper we will briefly describe the current implementation of the experimental real-time GIC forecasting system operated at Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at NASA/GSFC and address the shortcomings of the system. We will introduce the approach we have chosen to attack the problem of first- principles-based mid- and low-latitude GIC. The approach not only requires more comprehensive modeling of the near-space plasma environment by means of coupling global magnetohydrodynamic models to kinetic models of the inner magnetosphere (presented in a paper by Buzulukova et al., fall AGU 2008) but also more complex modeling of the geomagnetic induction process. We will present preliminary results generated by using the new GIC modeling capability and we will discuss the means to transfer the new approach into a real-time GIC forecasting system.

The depositional environments of the wave-dominant successions in the middle to late Miocene Belait and Sandakan Formations in northwestern and northern Borneo, respectively, were determined based on grain size distributions, sedimentary structures and facies successions, as well as trace and microfossil assemblages. Generally, progradational shoreface successions in the Belait Formation were deposited in very low wave energy environments where longshore currents were too weak to generate trough cross-bedding. Shoreface sands are laterally continuous for several km and follow the basin contours, suggesting attached beaches similar to the modern Brunei coastline. In contrast, trough cross-bedding is common in the coarser Sandakan Formation and back-barrier mangrove swamp deposits cap the progradational succession as on the modern northern Dent Peninsula coastline, indicating barrier development and higher wave energy conditions than in the Belait Formation. The Borneo examples indicate that barrier systems that include significant tidal facies form under higher wave energy conditions than attached beaches with virtually no tidal facies. Also, Borneo's lowlatitude climate promotes back-barrier mangrove which reduces tidal exchange and reduces tidal influence relative to comparable temperate climate systems. The results of the study indicate that depositional systems on low energy, wave-dominated coasts are highly variable, as are the sand bodies and facies associations they generate.

Emcore third generation concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules were evaluated in the lowlatitude location of Kihei, Hawaii. For comparison, the best available monocrystalline silicon flat panel modules were included in both dual-axis tracked and fixed mount configurations. The daily DC uncorrected efficiency value for the CPV modules averaged over the six-month performance period was 25.9% compared to 16% to 17% for the flat panels. Higher daily energy was obtained from CPV modules than tracked flat panels when daily direct solar insolation was greater than 5 kWh/m2 and more than fixed mount flat panel when direct insolation was greater than 3 kWh/m2. The module energy conversion performance was demonstrated to be predictable using a parametric model developed by Sandia National Laboratory. Soiling accumulation on module entrance surface was surprisingly rapid in the local environment. Measured energy loss rate due to soiling were two to six times larger for CPV compared to flat panel losses.

Simultaneous observations of VHF radar and HF Doppler array systems located at Chung Li (Taiwan) are used to observe three-dimensional wind speeds and gravity waves. The density perturbations are determined at different altitudes of the mesosphere and thermosphere during weak convective motions of the cold front in the winter. The present observations are believed to be valuable for space projects dealing with the low-latitude atmosphere.

The response of the vertical plasma drift (Vz) and the electron density (NmF2) during different solar eclipses was investigated. The diurnal values of the direct scaled measurement of F2 peak height and the one derived from M(3000) F2 data, acquired over an equatorial/low-latitude stations, have been used to determine the vertical plasma drift. The ionosphere during a solar eclipse is significantly affected by the E × B vertical drift; the large depletion of electron density at low altitudes can be transported to high altitudes through the plasma vertical drift. The loss in ionization density during the eclipse phase decreases the electron density, which was accompanied by rapid increase in hmF2. This deviation in the NmF2 during eclipse compared to control days can be related to the increase in the loss rate due to recombination, as a result of reduction in thermal energy. However, the maximum reduction in NmF2 is not synchronous with the time of maximum totality but some minutes later. The differences in the solar epochs may contribute to the observed relative changes in the ionospheric F2 region behavior during the eclipse window. Lastly, it is very difficult to separate the influence of magnetic disturbances from solar eclipse. The deviation in NmF2 is higher during magnetic disturbed days than the quiet day. The reverse is the case for hmF2 observation. However, the NmF2 variation increases with an increase in solar activity.

Auroral activity occurred in the late afternoon sector (approx. 16 MLT) in the northern hemisphere during the passage at Earth of an interplanetary magnetic cloud on January 14, 1988. The auroral activity consisted of a very dynamic display which was preceded and followed by quiet auroral displays. During the quiet displays, discrete rayed arcs aligned along the geomagnetic L shells were observed. In the active stage, rapidly evolving spiral forms centered on magnetic zenith were evident. The activity persisted for many minutes and was characterized by the absence of directed motion. They were strongly suggestive of intense filaments of upward field-aligned currents embedded in the large-scale region 1 current system. Distortions of the flux ropes as they connect from the equatorial magnetosphere to the ionosphere were witnessed. We assess as possible generating mechanisms three nonlocal sources known to be associated with field-aligned currents. Of these, partial compressions of the magnetosphere due to variations of solar wind dynamic pressure seem an unlikely source. The possibility that the auroral forms are due to reconnection is investigated but is excluded because the active aurora were observed on the closed field line region just equatorward of the convection reversal boundary. To support this conclusion further, we apply recent results on the mapping of ionospheric regions to the equatorial plane based on the Tsyganenko 1989 model (Kaufmann et al., 1993). We find that for comparable magnetic activity the aurora map to the equatorial plane at X(sub GSM) = approx. 3 R(sub E) and approx. 2 R(sub E) inward of the magnetopause, that is, the inner edge of the boundary layer close to dusk. Since the auroral forms are manifestly associated with magnetic field shear, a vortical motion at the equatorial end of the flux rope is indicated, making the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability acting at the inner edge of the low-latitude boundary layer the most probable generating

This paper presents the impact of a fast solar wind on the ionosphere, in lowlatitudes, on 13 October 2012. On that day, the high speed solar wind reached the Earth around 16:00UT, during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm which started around 00:00UT. The solar wind speed was determined to be 580km/s, on the same day, around 17:00UT. Its impact was observed in low and equatorial latitudes, in Africa and in Eastern South America, on the F layer and on the geomagnetic field variations. Through the analysis of magnetic indices, ionosonde characteristics and the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field, we found that the 13 October 2012 event exhibited a local impact, affecting the observatories situated in a longitude sector between 315°E and 45°E. Particularly, the F layer in Africa (observed by the ionosonde at Ascension Island) did not present any lift, and there was a delay for approximately two hours of the ascent of the F layer in America (the ionosonde at Fortaleza). In this case, there was an evident inhibition on the development of spread F at the time of the Pre Reversal Enhancement (PRE) in Africa and Eastern America, while the ionograms of the days before and after presented clear spread F traces. The disturbances of the ionospheric equivalent electric current (Diono) deduced from the variations of the geomagnetic field at M'Bour near Dakar (Africa) and at Kourou (Eastern America) exhibited on the dayside, an anti Sq current which is signature of the influence of the Disturbance Dynamo Electric Field (DDEF).

Recording the tweeks with a maximum up to eight harmonics using the receiver installed at Tay Nguyen University (12.65° N, 108.02° E) during 2013-2014, we investigated the morphology of the nighttime D-region ionosphere. Tweeks were recorded on 5 quiet nights per month. The results show that the mean reflection height in 2014 (Rz = 79.3) is lower by 3.3 km than that in 2013 (Rz = 64.9). The reflection height at lowlatitudes is higher than that at high latitudes. The mean reference height h‧ in 2013 is higher about 0.9 km than that in 2014 and the mean sharpness factor β in 2013 is higher by 0.07 km-1 than that in 2014. The short-term variation of reflection heights for tweeks with harmonics m = 1-3 and sunspot number have the negative correlation coefficients. However, the correlations between them are not clear. On some nights, from 19:00-21:00 LT, the reflection height temporal variability shows a moderate to strong negative correlation with the tweek occurrence. This suggests that the reflection height variation may be caused by QE fields generated by lightning discharges. The variations of tweek reflection heights observed during 2013-2014, at lowlatitudes could be significantly caused by the ionization effect by Lyman- α and Lyman- β coming from geocorona, variation of neutral density, particle precipitations, and by direct energy coupling between lightning and lower ionosphere.

Being a key player in Space Weather, ionospheric variability affects the performance of both communication and navigation systems. To improve the performance of these systems, ionosphere has to be monitored. Total Electron Content (TEC), line integral of the electron density along a ray path, is an important parameter to investigate the ionospheric variability. A cost-effective way of obtaining TEC is by using dual-frequency GPS receivers. Since these measurements are sparse in space, accurate and robust interpolation techniques are needed to interpolate (or map) the TEC distribution for a given region in space. However, the TEC data derived from GPS measurements contain measurement noise, model and computational errors. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the interpolation performance of the techniques on synthetic data sets that can represent various ionospheric states. By this way, interpolation performance of the techniques can be compared over many parameters that can be controlled to represent the desired ionospheric states. In this study, Multiquadrics, Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Cubic Splines, Ordinary and Universal Kriging, Random Field Priors (RFP), Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP-NN), and Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBF-NN) are employed as the spatial interpolation algorithms. These mapping techniques are initially tried on synthetic TEC surfaces for parameter and coefficient optimization and determination of error bounds. Interpolation performance of these methods are compared on synthetic TEC surfaces over the parameters of sampling pattern, number of samples, the variability of the surface and the trend type in the TEC surfaces. By examining the performance of the interpolation methods, it is observed that both Kriging, RFP and NN have important advantages and possible disadvantages depending on the given constraints. It is also observed that the determining parameter in the error performance is the trend in the Ionosphere

Ionosphere is an important layer of atmosphere that varies under solar, geomagnetic, gravitational and seismic activities. Total Electron Content (TEC) is one of the main observables of ionosphere. International Reference Ionosphere Extended to Plasmasphere (IRI-Plas) is accepted by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as the standard climatic model. IRI-Plas provides TEC up to GPS satellite height. TEC can be estimated using Global Positioning System (GPS) Networks. In this study, TEC is computed using both IRI-Plas and Turkish National Permanent GPS Network as IONOLAB-TEC. In order to detect seismic precursors, three different distance metrics, namely Symmetric Kullback-Liebler Distance (SKLD), Cross-Correlation Coefficient (CC), and L2-Norm (L2N), are implemented between IONOLAB-TEC and IRI-Plas-TEC values. SKLD is also computed between IONOLAB-TEC Maps and IRI-Plas-TEC Maps over Turkey. Between May 2009 and September 2012, it is observed that SKLD metric indicates a disturbance within the period prior to 10 days of earthquake day. The disturbance in SKLD increases for the range of stations in the neighborhood of the epicenter. For strong earthquakes all of the three distance metrics indicate a disturbance before the earthquake, yet SKLD behaves as a more sensitive precursor for earthquakes larger than magnitude 4. This study is supported by the joint grant of TUBITAK 112E568 and RFBR 13-02-91370-CT_a.

The thymus is the primary lymphoid organ for generating self-restricted and self-tolerant functional T cells. Its two distinct anatomical regions, the cortex and the medulla, are involved in positive and negative selection, respectively. Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) constitute the framework of this tissue and function as major stromal components. Extensive studies for more than a decade have revealed how TECs are generated during organogenesis; progenitors specific for medullary TECs (mTECs) and cortical TECs (cTECs) as well as bipotent progenitors for both lineages have been identified, and the signaling pathways required for the development and maturation of mTECs have been elucidated. However, little is known about the initial commitment of mTECs and cTECs during ontogeny, and how regeneration of both lineages is sustained in the postnatal/adult thymus. Recently, stem cell activities in TECs have been demonstrated, and TEC progenitors have been identified in the postnatal thymus. In this review, recent advances in studying the development and maintenance of TECs are summarized, and the possible mechanisms of thymic regeneration and involution are discussed. PMID:26362014

We have employed the hourly values of the ionospheric F-region critical frequency (foF2) obtained from Ouagadougou ionosonde, Burkina Faso (geographic coordinates 12° N, 1.8° W) during the interval of 1985-1995 (solar cycle 22) and solar radio flux of 10 cm wavelength (F10.7) to develop a local model (LM) for the African low-latitude station. The model was developed from regression analysis method, using the two-segmented regression analysis. We validated LM with foF2 data from Korhogo observatory, Cote d'Ivorie (geographical coordinates 9.3° N, 5.4° W). LM as well as the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) agrees well with observations. LM gave some improvement on the IRI-predicted foF2 values at the sunrise (06 LT) at all solar flux levels and in all seasons except June solstice. The performance of the models at the representing the salient features of the equatorial foF2 was presented. Considering daytime and nighttime performances, LM and IRI are comparable in low solar activity (LSA), LM performed better than IRI in moderate solar activity (MSA), while IRI performed better than LM in high solar activity (HSA). CCIR has a root mean square error (r.m.s.e), which is only 0.10 MHz lower than that of LM while LM has r.m.s.e, which is about 0.05 MHz lower than that of URSI. In general, our result shows that performance of IRI, especially the CCIR option of the IRI, is quite comparable with the LM. The improved performance of IRI is a reflection of the numerous contributions of ionospheric physicists in the African region, larger volume of data for the IRI and the diversity of data sources, as well as the successes of the IRI task force activities.

Interest in the equatorial anomaly in the ionosphere has been focused mostly on f_oF_2, and not much attention was paid to h_mF_2 except for the time rate of change of it in connection with the vertical plasma drift velocity. There have been few climatological studies on h_mF_2 variations associated with development of the equatorial anomaly. In this paper, we revisit the equatorial anomaly in terms of height variations. For this purpose, we analyzed scaled ionogram parameters from three stations located along the magnetic meridian that is a primary component of Southeast Asia low-latitude ionospheric network (SEALION); one at the magnetic equator and the others at conjugate off-equatorial latitudes near 10 degrees magnetic latitude. The daytime h_mF_2 was investigated for each season during the solar minimum period, 2006-2007 and 2009. The peak height increased for approximately 3 hr after sunrise at all locations, as expected from the daytime upward E×B drift. The apparent upward drift ceased before noon at the magnetic equator, while the layer continued to increase at the off-equatorial latitudes, reaching altitudes higher than the equatorial height around noon. The noon time restricted layer height at the magnetic equator did not depend much on the season, while the maximum peak height at the off-equatorial latitudes largely varied with season. The daytime specific limiting height of the equatorial ionosphere was termed ionospheric ceiling. Numerical modeling using the SAMI2 code reproduced the features of the ionospheric ceiling quite well. Dynamic parameters provided by the SAMI2 modeling were investigated and it was shown that the ionospheric ceiling is another aspect of the fountain effect, in which increased diffusion of plasma at higher altitudes has a leading role.

Isotopic fractionations associated with two primary processes (evaporation and freezing of water) are discussed, which are responsible for the formation and evolution of saline lakes in deserts from both low-latitude and the Polar regions. In an evaporative system, atmospheric parameters (humidity and isotopic composition of water vapor) have strong influence on the isotopic behavior of saline lakes, and in a freezing system, salinity build-up largely controls the extent of freezing and associated isotope fractionation. In both systems, salinity has a direct impact on the isotopic evolution of saline lakes. It is proposed that a steady-state 'terminal lake' model with short-term hydrologic and environmental perturbations can serve as a useful framework for investigating both evaporative and freezing processes of perennial saline lakes. Through re-assessment of own work and literature data for saline lakes, it was demonstrated that effective uses of the isotope activity compositions of brines and salinity-chemistry data could reveal dynamic changes and evolution in the isotopic compositions of saline lakes in response to hydrologic and environmental changes. The residence time of isotopic water molecules in lakes determines the nature of responses in the isotopic compositions following perturbations in the water and isotope balances (e.g., dilution by inflow, water deficit by increased evaporation, and/or reduction in inflow). The isotopic profiles of some saline lakes from the Polar regions show that they switched the two contrasting modes of operation between evaporative and freezing systems, in response to climate and hydrological changes in the past.

Isotopic fractionations associated with two primary processes (evaporation and freezing of water) are discussed, which are responsible for the formation and evolution of saline lakes in deserts from both low-latitude and the Polar regions. In an evaporative system, atmospheric parameters (humidity and isotopic composition of water vapor) have strong influence on the isotopic behavior of saline lakes, and in a freezing system, salinity build-up largely controls the extent of freezing and associated isotope fractionation. In both systems, salinity has a direct impact on the isotopic evolution of saline lakes. It is proposed that a steady-state terminal lake model with short-term hydrologic and environmental perturbations can serve as a useful framework for investigating both evaporative and freezing processes of perennial saline lakes. Through re-assessment of own work and literature data for saline lakes, it was demonstrated that effective uses of the isotope activity compositions of brines and salinity-chemistry data could reveal dynamic changes and evolution in the isotopic compositions of saline lakes in response to hydrologic and environmental changes. The residence time of isotopic water molecules in lakes determines the nature of responses in the isotopic compositions following perturbations in the water and isotope balances (e.g., dilution by inflow, water deficit by increased evaporation, and/ or reduction in inflow). The isotopic profiles of some saline lakes from the Polar regions show that they switched the two contrasting modes of operation between evaporative and freezing systems, in response to climate and hydrological changes in the past.

Ice cores contain specific molecular markers including levoglucosan (1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose) and other pyrochemical evidence that provides much-needed information on the role of fire in regions with no existing data of past fire activity. Levoglucosan is a cellulose combustion product produced at burning temperatures of 300°C or greater. We first trace fire emissions from a boreal forest source in the Canadian Shield through transport and deposition at Summit, Greenland. Atmospheric and surface samples suggest that levoglucosan in snow can record biomass burning events up to 1000s of kilometers away. Levoglucosan does degrade by interacting with hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere, but it is emitted in large quantities, allowing the use as a biomass burning tracer. These quantified atmospheric biomass burning emissions and associated parallel oxalate and levoglucosan peaks in snow pit samples validates levoglucosan as a proxy for past biomass burning in snow records and by extension in ice cores. The temporal and spatial resolution of chemical markers in ice cores matches the core in which they are measured. The longest temporal resolution extends back approximately eight glacial cycles in the EPICA Dome C ice core, but many ice cores provide high-resolution Holocene records. The spatial resolution of chemical markers in ice cores depends on the core location where low-latitude ice cores primarily reflect regional climate parameters, and polar ice cores integrate hemispheric signals. Here, we compare levoglucosan flux measured during the late Holocene in the Kilimanjaro (3°04.6'S; 37°21.2'E, 5893 masl) and NEEM, Greenland (77°27' N; 51°3'W, 2454 masl) ice cores. We contrast the Holocene results with levoglucosan flux across the past 600,000 years in the EPICA Dome C (75°06'S, 123°21'E, 3233 masl) ice core.

This paper investigates the response of the equatorial ionosphere to the neutral atmosphere perturbations produced by the magnetic storm of March 22, 1979. A numerical model of the equatorial ionosphere is used to calculate the maximum electron densities and F layer heights associated with a storm-perturbed neutral atmosphere and circulation model. Possible electric field perturbations due to the storm are ignored. The neutral atmosphere and dynamics are simulated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermospheric general circulation model (TGCM) for the storm day of March 22, 1979, and the preceding quiet day. The most striking feature of the TGCM storm day simulations is the presence of waves in the neutral composition, wind, and temperature fields which propagate from high latitudes to the equator. The TGCM-calculated fields for the two days are input into a low-latitude ionosphere model which calculates n{sub max} and h{sub max} between {plus minus}20{degree}dip latitude. The calculated nighttime 6300-{angstrom} airglow emission and the altitude profiles of electron concentration are also highly perturbed by the storm. Examination of ionosonde data for March 22, 1979, shows remarkable agreement between the measured and predicted changes in f{sub 0}F{sub 2} and h{sub max} near 140{degree}W. Poorer agreement near 70{degree}W may be due to the neglect of electric field perturbations and the approximations inherent in the modeling. The results of these simulations indicate that the major factor influencing the storm time ionospheric behavior in this case is the neutral wind.

A long-term analysis (1985-2012) allowed to investigate the occurrence and characteristics of clearly defined ULF events (f ≈ 10-100 mHz) detected during daytime at low-latitude (L'Aquila, Italy; L ≈ 1.6) during quiet and moderately perturbed magnetospheric conditions. Selected events (≈30,000 on each component) typically have much greater amplitude on the H component with respect to D. They often reveal two prominent spectral peaks, one in band A (f < ≈ 45 mHz), mostly related to the transmission of upstream waves, and the other one in band B (f > ≈ 55 mHz), including resonances of local field lines and higher-frequency upstream waves. The occurrence of resonant phenomena on the D component is also clearly evidenced. The solar wind speed is confirmed as the key element for the manifestation of events; by contrast, their appearance is inhibited during extremely low solar wind densities. The events mostly manifest between dawn and early afternoon, with highest occurrence at ≈08:00-10:00 LT, as might be expected for the usual distribution of the interplanetary magnetic field orientation determining more or less favorable conditions for a foreshock region on the morning flank of the bow shock. No evidence is found for a favorite occurrence for low cone angles (θXB < ≈ 10°) rather, they preferentially manifest for θXB ≈ 25°-40°. The polarization pattern, much more definite in the afternoon, is consistent with the expected antisunward propagation; in the morning sector, it also suggests the possible occurrence of sunward propagating modes, mostly at f < ≈ 22 mHz. The tilt angle of the major axis of the polarization ellipses during daytime hours is oriented in the NW/SE quadrant and experiences remarkable changes at sunrise and sunset; it also shows a seasonal modulation with larger angles in the winter.

The occurrence and characteristics of ULF events (f ≈ 10-100 mHz) detected during the night at lowlatitude (L'Aquila, Italy, λ ≈ 36.3°), during quiet and moderately perturbed magnetospheric conditions, have been examined by means of a long-term analysis between 1996 and 2012. Clearly defined events (≈8000 on each component) are typically more energetic in H than in D and basically consist of penetrating upstream waves, resonances of local field lines, and Pi2 waves. The global event occurrence shows a strong asymmetry about midnight, with a much higher wave activity before dawn than after dusk: it mostly comes from the intense penetration of upstream waves through the dawn flank of the magnetopause. D events are more frequent in summer and H events more frequent in winter, suggesting a different influence of the ionospheric modification of the downgoing signals. Between f ≈ 30 and 45 mHz, the reversal of the dominant polarization across midnight reveals tailward propagation of penetrating waves. Below f ≈ 25 mHz, intermingled with continuous Pc3 and Pc4 waves, a large fraction of events exhibit Pi2 characteristics: the dominant left-handed polarization and the switch of the tilt angle of the major axis of the polarization ellipses are consistent with the pattern expected for waves related to the substorm current wedge. A relevant percentage of the power spectra shows a second enhancement above f ≈ 55 mHz, revealing resonance of local field lines also during the night.

The GPS observations of Greenland network were used to analyze the latitudinal variations of TEC at the high-latitudes ionosphere. This network provides unique opportunity to monitor TEC variability in polar ionosphere on a regular base. GPS stations are arranged along the latitude over the range 60-83°N (65°-87° Corrected Geomagnetic Latitude) near of 30°-40° longitudes. More than 20 GPS stations are located closely with one another along latitude. The distance between stations is about 1°-2°.Such spatial resolution provides the possibility to analyze the detailed structure of latitudinal TEC profiles. The standard procedure of processing GPS observations was used for TEC estimation. On this base it was obtained the diurnal TEC variations over all Greenland stations. The TEC data is used to form latitudinal profiles (TEC section) covered subauroral, auroral and polar ionosphere. In the report the observations of TEC for quiet and disturbed ionosphere during several geomagnetic storms occurred in September 2011 are presented. During quiet conditions in the night-time TEC profiles demonstrated invariable values about of 4-6 TECU in latitudinal region of 60°-75°N; then it presented THE increase towards the higher latitude and reached the value of 10 TECU near 80°N. The daytime profiles revealed TEC decrease toward high latitude in keeping with 0.8 TECU/degree. During storm the structure of latitudinal TEC profiles was essentially changed with agreement to the development of geomagnetic storm. The positive effect was observed at subauroral and auroral latitudes, negative effect was prevailed at the polar region. During the night time the ionospheric trough can be observed. In the report features of the behavior of latitudinal profiles at high-latitude ionosphere for September 2011 events were discussed.

It is an interesting topic how the ionosphere varies when solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance decreases far below normal levels. When extrapolating the total electron content (TEC)-EUV relation, significantly negative TECs at the zero solar EUV point are obtained, which indicates that TEC-EUV variation under extremely low solar EUV (ELSE) conditions does not follow the TEC-EUV trend during normal solar cycles. We suggest that there are four types of nonlinear TEC-EUV variations over the whole EUV range from zero to the solar maximum level. The features of the ionosphere under ELSE conditions were investigated using the TEC extrapolated with cubic TEC-EUV fitting. With the constraint of zero TEC at zero EUV, the cubic fitting takes not only observations but also the trend of the ionosphere (only an extremely weak ionosphere can exist when EUV vanishes) into account. The climatology features of TEC under ELSE conditions may differ from those during normal solar cycles at nighttime. Ionospheric dynamic processes are supposed to still significantly affect the ionosphere under ELSE conditions and induce this difference. With solar EUV decreasing, global electron content (GEC) should vary largely in accordance with the GEC-EUV trend during normal solar cycles, and the seasonal fluctuation of GEC declines, owing to the contraction of the ionosphere.

In this paper we present and discuss the results on F2 and F3 layers based on ionosonde observations made from lowlatitude stations in India. We also use ExB drift using daytime 150 km echoes made with the Gadanki MST radar. We present two important aspects of the F2 and F3 layers: (1) The variability of F2 and F3 layer properties during low solar activity period of 2008-2009 and compare them with those observed during the high solar activity period of 2002-2003 (2) The variability of F2 and F3 layer properties with ExB drift values simultaneously observed during low solar activity period. The results show that ionospheric F2 and F3 layers have distinctly different features during high and low solar activities. The critical frequencies of the F2 and F3 layers are 5-6 MHz higher in the high solar activity than those of low solar activity. F2 layer shows stronger semi-annual and solar rotation associated variations during high solar activity than in low solar activity. Occurrence of the F3 layer, however, was quite similar in high and low solar activities except for winter solstice. Simultaneous observations of F2 and F3 layers, and ExB drift made during the low solar activity period clearly suggest that a threshold value of the ExB drift and its time integrated value are important for the formation of the F3 layer. The heights of the F2 and F3 layers linearly increase with ExB drift, indicating the dominant role of zonal electric field in determining the height of the F2 and F3 layers due to the close proximity of Gadanki to the magnetic equator. In order to gain further insight on the role of meridional neutral wind, we study this effect using Sheffield University Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model (SUPIM) by employing the observed ExB drift and F3 layer parameters and meridional neutral wind from Horizontal Wind Model 90 (HWM90).

The low-latitude boundary layer (LBL) and its separation from the cusp have previously been identified using observations of particle precipitation at magnetosheath energies. Using S3-3 satellite observations, we have determined that these identifications can also be made from energetic particle observations on polar-orbiting satellites. It is found that the equatorward boundary of the LBL is identifiable as an approximately discontinuous decrease in 33-keV electron fluxes from low to high latitudes. Both the energetic ion and electron fluxes decrease discontinuously at the boundary between the LBL and the cusp or polar cap. A distinct LBL is nearly always identifiable in energetic particle measurements in the 10-14 MLT region when counting rates are statistically significant. The identifications obtained using the energetic particle measurements have been compared to those obtained using criteria developed by Newell and Meng (1988, 1989) for magnetosheath energy particle precipitation. In this way, we have evaluated the accuracy of both techniques and used the energetic particle measurements to supplement the identifications obtained using the Newell and Meng criteria. We propose that the Newell and Meng threshold on ion energy flux can be reduced by a factor of 6. This modification provides identification of the LBL for lower ion intensity levels than has previously been thought possible. Source, acceleration, and scattering processes have also been studied within and in the vicinity of the LBL. Observed trapped pitch angle distributions of energetic electrons imply that the LBL is at least partially on closed field lines. Strong scattering of energetic protons is found within and equatorward of the LBL and thus must occur at least partially along closed field lines. Field-aligned electron acceleration by parallel electric fields can be discerned within and poleward of the LBL, but a more detailed analysis is necessary for a statistical study. Conical ion

We present the results of a comparative study of spread-F signatures over five low-latitude sites: Chiangmai (CGM; 18.8° N, 98.9° E, mag. Lat. 8.8° N), Thailand; Tanjungsari (TNJ; 6.9° S, 107.6° E, mag. Lat. 16.9° S), Indonesia; Palmas (PAL; 10.2° S, 311.8° E, mag. Lat. 0.9° S) and São José Dos Campos (SJC; 23.2° S, 314.1° E, mag. Lat. 14.0° S), Brazil; and Tucumán (TUC; 26.9° S, 294.6° E, mag. Lat. 16.8° S), Argentina. The investigation was based on simultaneous ionograms recorded by an FMCW (frequency-modulated continuous-wave) at CGM, an IPS-71 (digital ionosonde from KEL aerospace) at TNJ, a CADI (Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde) at PAL and SJC, and an AIS-INGV (Advanced Ionospheric Sounder - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) at TUC, during the equinoctial periods March-April (R12 = 2.0 and R12 = 2.2) and September-October (R12 = 6.1 and R12 = 7.0) 2009, for very low solar activity. Spread-F signatures were categorized into two types: the range spread-F (RSF) and the frequency spread-F (FSF). The study confirms that the dynamics and the physical processes responsible for these phenomena are actually complicated. In fact, the features that arise from the investigation are different, depending on both the longitude sector and on the hemisphere. For instance, TUC, under the southern crest of the ionospheric equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), shows a predominance of RSF signatures, while both SJC, under the southern crest of EIA but in a different longitude sector, and CGM, under the northern crest of EIA, show a predominance of FSF signatures. Moreover, the spread-F occurrence over the longitude sector that includes CGM and TNJ is significantly lower than the spread-F occurrence over the longitude sector of PAL, SJC, and TUC.

To clarify the effect of the dawn and dusk terminators on Pi2 pulsations, we statistically analyzed the longitudinal phase and amplitude structures of Pi2 pulsations at middle- to low-latitude stations (GMLat = 5.30°-46.18°) around both the dawn and dusk terminators. Although the H (north-south) component Pi2s were affected by neither the local time (LT) nor the terminator location (at 100 km altitude in the highly conducting E region), some features of the D (east-west) component Pi2s depended on the location of the terminator rather than the LT. The phase reversal of the D component occurred 0.5-1 h after sunrise and 1-2 h before sunset. These phase reversals can be attributed to a change in the contributing currents from field-aligned currents (FACs) on the nightside to the meridional ionospheric currents on the sunlit side of the terminator, and vice versa. The phase reversal of the dawn terminator was more frequent than that of the dusk terminator. The D-to- H amplitude ratio on the dawn side began to increase at sunrise, reaching a peak approximately 2 h after sunrise (the sunward side of the phase reversal region), whereas the ratio on the dusk side reached a peak at sunset (the antisunward side). The dawn-dusk asymmetric features suggest that the magnetic contribution of the nightside FAC relative to the meridional ionospheric current on the dusk side is stronger than that on the dawn side, indicating that the center of Pi2-associated FACs, which probably corresponds to the Pi2 energy source, tends to be shifted duskward on average. Different features and weak sunrise/sunset dependences at the middle-latitude station (Paratunka, GMLat = 46.18°) can be attributed to the larger annual variation in the sunrise/sunset time and a stronger magnetic effect because of closeness from FACs. The D-to- H amplitude ratio decreased with decreasing latitude, suggesting that the azimuthal magnetic field produced by the FACs in darkness and the meridional ionospheric

The analysis of the regular features of the high-, mid- and low-latitude ionosphere characteristics has been carried out using local empirical models. The local empirical models were derived from the manual scaled ionogram data recorded by DPS-4 Digisondes located at Norilsk (69 N, 88E), Irkutsk (52 N, 104E) and Hainan (19 N, 109E) for a 6-year period from December, 2002 to December, 2008. The technique used to build the local empirical model is described. Primary focuses are diurnal, seasonal and solar cycle variations of the peak electron density and the peak height under low solar activity and their changes with increasing solar activity. The main objective of the paper is to reveal both common and specific features of high-, mid- and low-latitude ionosphere. Based on earlier comparisons with the International Reference Ionosphere model, we analyze how the common and specific features are reproduced by this model.

Anthropogenic water management can change surface energy budgets and the water cycle. In this study, we focused on impacts of Asian low-latitude irrigation on regional and global climates during boreal wintertime. A state-of-the-art Earth system model is used to simulate the land-air interaction processes affected by irrigation and the consequent responses in atmospheric circulation. Perturbed experiments show that wet soil moisture anomalies at lowlatitudes can reduce the surface temperature on a continental scale through atmospheric feedback. The intensity of prevailing monsoon circulation becomes stronger because of larger land-sea thermal contrast. Furthermore, anomalous upper level convergence over South Asia and midlatitude climatic changes indicate tropical-extratropical teleconnections. The wintertime Aleutian low is deepened and an anomalous warm surface temperature is found in North America. Previous studies have noted this warming but left it unexplained, and we provide plausible mechanisms for these remote impacts coming from the irrigation over Asian low-latitude regions.

this claim. Results indicate that the Crestone Crater and nearby similar structures are relic collapsed hydraulic pingos, formed during Pleistocene periglacial activity. This conclusion provides further insight into periglacial landforms at lowlatitudes while demonstrating the value of LiDAR analysis of small geologic features on a regional scale.

Ionospheric nighttime enhancements are manifested in an increase of the electron density at nighttime. This paper studies the latitudinal variation of the specific local time of postmidnight enhancement peaks using ionosondes distributed at lowlatitudes. To obtain the parameters of the ionosphere, we manually extracted ionograms recorded by ionosondes. Cases show that there are significant latitudinal variations in the observed local time of the postmidnight enhancement peaks. Results show that the lower the geomagnetic latitude, the earlier the enhancement peak occurred in the geomagnetic northern hemisphere. Additionally, the enhancement peaks occurred earlier in the geomagnetic southern hemisphere than that in the geomagnetic northern hemisphere for these present cases. We suggest that the combined effect of the geomagnetic inclination and transequatorial meridional wind might be the main driving force for latitudinal variation of the local time of the occurrence.

A number of martian outflow channels were carved by discharges from large dilational fault zones. These channels were sourced by groundwater, not surface water, and when observed on high-standing plateaus they provide indicators of elevated paleo-groundwater levels. We identify three outflow channels of Hesperian age that issued from a 750-km-long fault zone extending from Candor Chasma to Ganges Chasma. Two of these channels, Allegheny Vallis and Walla Walla Vallis, have sources >2500 m above the topographic datum, too high to be explained by discharge from a global aquifer that was recharged solely in the south polar region. The indicated groundwater levels likely required regional sources of recharge at lowlatitudes. The floodwaters that erupted from Ophir Cavus to form Allegheny Vallis encountered two ridges that restricted the flow, forming temporary lakes. The flow probably breached or overtopped these obstructions quickly, catastrophically draining the lakes and carving several scablands. After the last obstacle had been breached, a single main channel formed that captured all subsequent flow. We performed hydrologic analyses of this intermediate phase of the flooding, prior to incision of the channel to its present depth. Using floodwater depths of 30-60 m, we calculated flow velocities of 6-15 m s -1 and discharges in the range of 0.7-3×10ms. Locally higher flow velocities and discharges likely occurred when the transient lakes were drained. Variable erosion at the channel and scabland crossing of MOLA pass 10644 suggests that the upper 25-30 m may consist of poorly consolidated surface materials underlain by more cohesive bedrock. We infer that an ice-covered lake with a surface elevation >2500 m probably existed in eastern Candor Chasma because this canyon is intersected by the Ophir Catenae fault system from which Allegheny Vallis and Walla Walla Vallis originated. We introduce a new hydrology concept for Mars in which the groundwater system was

With the development of Satellite based augmentation systems (SBAS) the dual frequency L1/L5 observations from a number of geostationary satellites are now available. It provides the possibility to retrieve ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from these observations using the same approach as for dual frequency GPS/GLONASS observations. In this work we study L1/L5 signals of Indian GAGAN geostationary satellites observed with geodetic GNSS receivers at several stations at mid-latitudes and estimate corresponding geostationary TEC and errors of such estimations. TEC RMS was found to reach up to 1.5 TECU with typical values of 0.25-0.5 TECU which is several times greater than for common GPS/GLONASS observations. TEC RMS also manifests UT-dynamics which is specific for the chosen geostationary satellite and not relevant to the receiver site and signal paths. SBAS TEC was found to be in good agreement with the data of nearest ionosondes taking into account low elevation angles of SBAS satellites already at mid-latitudes and spatial gradients of electron density along the ray paths. We also present the wavelet analysis of geostationary TEC, providing typical periods of observed variations at different time scales (from tens of minutes to tens of days) and discuss the capabilities of SBAS TECobservations in connection with ionospheric effects of solar flares.

This study presents comparison of low-latitude dynamical responses to boreal 2008/09 and austral 2002 winter Major Stratospheric Warming (MSW) events, as both events are of vortex split type. During these winters, planetary wave (PW) variability and changes in low-latitude circulation are examined using European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) reanalysis (ERA)-interim data sets and mesospheric wind data acquired by the MF radars at Tirunelveli (8.7°N) and Rarotonga (22°S). Eliassen-Palm diagnostic is used to provide an evidence for the lateral PW energy propagation from high to low-latitudes during both the MSW events. The PW flux reaches much lower latitudes during the boreal event than during the austral event. The low-latitude westward winds at stratospheric heights are stronger (weaker) during the boreal (austral) MSW. Weak (strong) PW wave activity at lowlatitude mesospheric heights during boreal (austral) MSW indicates the influence of low-latitude stratospheric westward winds on the vertical propagation of PW to low-latitude mesosphere.

Knowledge of the polar ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and its future variations is of scientific and engineering relevance. In this study, a new method is developed to predict Arctic mean TEC on the scale of a solar cycle using previous data covering 14 years. The Arctic TEC is derived from global positioning system measurements using the spherical cap harmonic analysis mapping method. The study indicates that the variability of the Arctic TEC results in highly time-varying periodograms, which are utilized for prediction in the proposed method. The TEC time series is divided into two components of periodic oscillations and the average TEC. The newly developed method of TEC prediction is based on an extrapolation method that requires no input of physical observations of the time interval of prediction, and it is performed in both temporally backward and forward directions by summing the extrapolation of the two components. The backward prediction indicates that the Arctic TEC variability includes a 9 years period for the study duration, in addition to the well-established periods. The long-term prediction has an uncertainty of 4.8–5.6 TECU for different period sets. PMID:25369066

GPS technique is widely used to study the global structure and dynamics of the ionosphere. This paper presents data on the occurrence of large-scale ionospheric irregularities observed at Antarctic stations McMurdo-MCM4 (-78N, 167E, Φ = 80°), Casey-CAS1 (-66N, 110E, Φ = 80°), Mawson-MAW1 (-68N, 63E, Φ = 71°), and Davis-DAV1 (-69N, 78E, Φ = 75°) in 2001. The irregularities caused strong Total Electron Content fluctuations. The intensity of TEC fluctuations was estimated with the ROT parameter and rate of TEC index (ROTI) expressed in TECU/min. Storm-time development of TEC fluctuations are presented for two geomagnetic active periods: June and September 2001. Data on temporal variations in TEC along individual satellites passes were also analyzed. Polar patches were associated with deep TEC fluctuations as the TEC enhancements were 2 10 times larger than the background, whereas the TEC increased by 10 50 TECU in about 5 10 min. The duration of such structures is 10 20 min. At 4 5 h interval, 3 5 strong and some weak patches were detected. The activity of patches depends to a low degree only on the magnetic activity index Kp. The intensity of TEC fluctuations increases during substorm activity. Diurnal, seasonal dependence, and longitudinal features of the occurrence of polar patches are also presented in the report.

We examine a large data set (2003-2009) of total electron content (TEC) values derived from a global network of differential GPS receivers that was downloaded from the Madrigal database. We report on TEC oscillations at multiple periods ranging from 5 to ~30 days. A significant portion of oscillations with 9-day and 13.5-day periods is driven by the recurrent geomagnetic activity, as evident from the analysis of geomagnetic indices. The TEC disturbances in response to the recurrent geomagnetic activity are stronger at middle and high latitudes, and are less pronounced at lower latitudes (< 30 degrees). We also observe a correlation between TEC and the 28-day lunar cycle that is more evident at lower (equatorial) latitudes in both northern and southern hemispheres. The TEC disturbances associated with the lunar cycle are well pronounced during the northern hemisphere winter and equinox seasons.

The development of GNSS and SBAS systems provides the possibility to retrieve ionospheric TEC from the dual frequency observations from a number of geostationary satellites using the same approach as for dual frequency GPS/GLONASS observations. In this connection, the quality of geostationary data, first of all the level of noise in TEC estimations is of great interest and importance. In this work we present the results of the comparison of the noise patterns in TEC estimations using signals of geostationary satellites of augumentation systems - indian GAGAN, european EGNOS and american WAAS, as well as the signals of chinees COMPASS/Beidou navigational system. We show that among above mentioned systems geostationary COMPASS/Beidou satellites provide best noise level in TEC estimations (RMS~0.1TECU), which corresponds to those of GPS/GLONASS, while GAGAN and WAAS TEC RMS could reach up to 1.5 TECU with typical values of 0.25-0.5 TECU which is up to one order greater than for common GPS/GLONASS observations. EGNOS TEC estimations being even more noisy (TEC RMS up to 10TECU) than WAAS and GAGAN ones at present time are not suitable for ionospheric studies. We also present geostationary TEC response to increasing solar X-Ray and EUV ionizing radiation during several recent X-class flares. Good correlation was found between TEC and EUV flux for the stations at the sunlit hemisphere. We also present geostationary TEC response to geomagnetic field variations during strong and moderate geomagnetic storms (including G4 St. Patricks Day Storm of 2015) showing examples of both positive and negative TEC anomalies of order of tens of TECU during main storm phase. Our results show the capability of geostationary GNSS and SBAS observations for continuous monitoring of ionospheric TEC. Intensively growing networks of dedicated receivers (for example MGEX network) and increasing number of dual-frequency geostationary satellites in SBAS and GNSS constellations potentially make it a

During the last few years the number of the GPS permanent stations have been increasing systematically. Currently it is possible to use phase GPS observations for detecting of the ionospheric disturbances with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study 30 second GPS measurements were used to investigate the occureance of the TEC fluctuations at high and mid latitudes during the extended solar minimum period (2008-2011). Based on observations from more than 100 permanent stations the 2-hour maps of the TEC variability and daily map of the ionospheric fluctuations as a function geomagnetic local time were created. In order to determine the variability of the ionosphere ROT (Rate of TEC) and ROTI (Rate of TEC index) were used. The diurnal, seasonal, and storm-time variations of TEC fluctuation activity were estimated. The most intensive TEC fluctuations at considered period were observed during several weak and moderate geomagnetic disturbances at November 2008, July 2009 and May 2010. The statistical characteristics of fluctuation intensity and TEC fluctuations maps as well as data processing technique are presented.

The Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) is an adaptive data analysis method that can accommodate the variety of data generated by nonlinear and nonstationary processes in nature. In this paper, we focus on the small geomagnetically induced current (GIC) at the local substations in low-latitude power grid of China, responding to a moderate storm on 14-18 July 2012. The HHT is applied to analyze the neutral point currents (NPCs) of transformers measured at different substations, and the GIC indices converted from local geomagnetic field measurements. The original data are decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition. After removal of the quasi-diurnal components related with the solar quiet variation, the IMFs representing storm disturbances are transformed into Hilbert energy spectra. The results show that some transformers have more or less responses to the moderate storm in the form of Hilbert energy spectra with the frequency around 2-3 mHz. A comparison on the amplitude changes of the spectra total energy of NPCs' perturbation during storm time intervals at different sites suggests that a shell type of three-phase single transformer group seems to be more vulnerable in the storm. Although the low-latitude power grids usually show very small GIC, these can be used to investigate the potential risk of space weather to the system.

Using total electron content (TEC) global ionospheric maps, dual-frequency GPS receivers TEC data and MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder, EOS Aura) atmospheric temperature data the ionospheric disturbances during the strong sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) of 2008/2009 and 2012/2013 winters are investigated in Russia's Asia region. It is established that during the SSW maximum the midday TEC decrease and the night/morning TEC increase compared to quiet days are observed in the mid-latitude ionosphere. As a result it caused the decrease of the diurnal TEC variations amplitude of about two times in comparison with the undisturbed level. The analysis of TEC deviations from the background level during the SSWs has shown that deviations dynamics vary depending on the observation point position. Negative deviations of TEC are registered in the ionosphere above the region of maximum stratosphere heating (the region of the stratospheric circulation change) as well as above the anticyclone. On the contrary, TEC values increase compared to the quiet day's values above the stratosphere cyclone. It is shown that during maximum phase of a warming, and within several days after it the amplification of wave TEC variations intensity with periods of up to 60 min is registered in ionosphere. The indicated effects may be attributed to the vertical transfer of molecular gas from a stratospheric heating region to the thermosphere as well as to the increase in activity of planetary and gravity waves which is usually observed during strong SSWs. The study is supported by the RF President Grant of Public Support for RF Leading Scientific Schools (NSh-2942.2014.5), the RF President Grant No. MK-3771.2012.5 and RFBR Grant No. 12-05-00865_а.

South Carolina State Dept. of Education, Columbia. Office of Vocational Education.

This V-TECS (Vocational-Technical Consortium of States) Guide is an extension or continuation of the V-TECS catalog for the occupation of computer operator. The guide is designed to help South Carolina teachers to promote the art of learning while teaching subject matter. The guide addresses the three domains of learning: psychomotor, cognitive,…

South Carolina State Dept. of Education, Columbia. Office of Vocational Education.

This V-TECS (Vocational-Technical Consortium of States) Guide is an extension or continuation of the V-TECS catalog for the occupation of medical assistant. The guide is designed to help South Carolina teachers to promote the art of learning while teaching subject matter. The guide addresses the three domains of learning: psychomotor, cognitive,…

The AzTEC Mathematics Project (AMP) is a statewide partnership among Arizona's Regents universities and state community colleges, partner school districts, and economic communities. AzTec is committed to preparing highly qualified K-12 mathematics and science teachers. AMP targeted Native American teachers and teachers of Native American students…

The paper describes absolute ion concentration measurements with an ion mass spectrometer on the Isis 2 satellite and discusses features of the ion composition near a fixed altitude of 1400 km as they relate to longitudinal and latitudinal variations at low and middle latitudes. Two distinct classes of daytime ionospheric behavior are observed. The data obtained confirm the strong solar-geomagnetic seasonal control over the topside ion distribution. The new phenomena associated with the observed longitudinal dependence of the ion composition at 1400 km demonstrate the existence of complex physical processes which take place in this region of the ionosphere.

Plasma density undulations in the dayside low-latitude/midlatitude ionospheric F region were often attributed to thermospheric gravity waves (TGWs). However, the relationship between the former and the latter has been at best indirectly evidenced. In this study we investigate daytime fluctuations in neutral mass density (ρ) and plasma density (ne) measured onboard CHAMP from 2001 to 2010. A significant amount of daytime fluctuations in ne is strongly correlated with in situ fluctuations of ρ, which we term "TGW-related ne fluctuations." The TGW-related ne fluctuations are (1) stronger in the winter hemisphere than in the summer hemisphere and (2) strongest in the South American sector during June solstice months. These climatological features are in general agreement with those of TGWs reported previously, especially at midlatitudes. On the other hand, the relative amplitude of TGW-related ne fluctuations does not depend strongly on solar activity.

Recent studies of low-latitude carbonates from SE Asia and Australia have revealed deposits and platform-types that do not fit easily into the perceived view of 'warm-water' tropical carbonates. The sediments are classified as a foramol or foralgal facies, and are dominated by non-framework building, light-dependent biota such as perforate larger benthic foraminifera, coralline algae and sometimes Halimeda. Although ancient foramol deposits are often interpreted as an indication of non-tropical conditions, foramol facies have long been known from the tropics, yet the environmental conditions in which they form are poorly known. The aims of this paper are to evaluate how these deposits are best classified, and more importantly whether there are any overriding controls that influence their common development in low-latitude areas, and if resultant platform development is affected. The deposits are all best grouped within the Photozoan Association [James, N.P., 1997. The cool-water depositional realm. In: James, N.P., Clarke, J.A.D., (Eds.), Cool-Water Carbonates. SEPM Special Publication 56, 1-20], an assignment synonymous with warm water conditions. The facies were also found to develop in conditions of limited light, or oligophoty. All the platforms described are characterised by having extensive areas of 'oligophotic' facies, generally in water depths extending down from 20 m, but sometimes in shallower waters. Platforms types vary from land-attached rimmed shelves, homoclinal and distally steepened ramps, to isolated banks and platforms, but all have extensive moderate to deep photic zone development of oligophotic facies. Some workers might assign these platforms to the 'incipiently drowned' platform-type [Read, J.F., 1985. Carbonate platform facies models. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 69, 1-21]. However, a morphological assignment is preferred here to signify that many of the deposits did not, or may not, form through drowning. Limited

Ancient secular variation in Central Mexico was determined from paleomagnetic measurements on 45 independent lava flows ranging in age (C-14 and K-Ar dates) from 2,500 to 580,000 years B.P. All the analyzed flows are characterized by a normal polarity placing them within the Brunhes Chron. The paleosecular variation analysis yielded an angular standard deviation from the field of an axial dipole of 15.3 deg with 95 percent confidence limits f 13.4 deg and 17.9 deg, and that of the corresponding Virtual Geomagnetic Poles (VGPs) of 13.9 deg with confidence limits of 12.1 deg and 16.1 deg. These values are in agreement with those predicted by most statistical models of secular variation, but divergent from those obtained from lowlatitudes (19 deg N) such as Hawaii and Pagan Is.

For the first time, a climatological response of lowlatitude ionosphere to geomagnetic storms is presented using long term global ionospheric maps (GIM) data from June 1998 to June 2015 covering two solar cycles 23 and 24. The results are not only the first from Indian region but also the first around the globe to bring latitudinal character of daytime ionospheric storms with use of newly defined criteria. The results are presented for daytime forenoon and afternoon sectors under minor, moderate and major ionospheric storm categories based on minimum Dst index criterion. For the first time the effectiveness of storms is identified using monthly standard deviation as an indicator of the day-to-day variability in equatorial and lowlatitude ionosphere. Thus results on climatology are definitive and form a data base that would be comparable to statistical results from any other longitude and time. Seasonal statistics for total storms, effective positive and negative storms, and amplitude of mean seasonal perturbation in total electron content are obtained. Total and effective storms are found to be higher in solar cycle 23 than in 24 and only couple of effective storms occurred during low solar activity 2007-2009 that also in minor category. Afternoon sector is found to be favourable for occurrence of maximum number of effective positive storms. A latitudinal preference is found for a given storm to be effective in either time sectors. Equinoctial asymmetry in ionospheric response both in terms of occurrence and perturbation amplitude is found. September equinoxes are found to bear maximum total, effective positive and negative storms. Winters are found more prone to negative storms whereas summers have recorded minimum number of either of storms and minimum perturbation amplitudes.

response of the D region low-latitude ionosphere has been examined for extreme space weather event of 14-16 December 2006 associated with a X1.5 solar flare and an intense geomagnetic storm (Dst = -146 nT) using VLF signals from Northwest Cape, Australia (NWC) (19.8 kHz) and Lualualei, Hawaii (callsign NPM) (21.4 kHz) transmitters monitored at Suva (Geographic Coordinates, 18.10°S, 178.40°E), Fiji. Modeling of flare associated amplitude and phase enhancements of NWC (3.6 dB, 223°) and NPM (5 dB, 153°) using Long-Wave Propagation Capability code shows reduction in the D region reflection height (H') by 11.1 km and 9.4 km, and enhancement in ionization gradients described by increases in the exponential sharpness factor (β) by 0.122 and 0.126 km-1, for the NWC and NPM paths, respectively. During the storm the daytime signal strengths of the NWC and NPM signals were reduced by 3.2 dB on 15 and 16 December (for about 46 h) and recovered by 17 December. Modeling for the NWC path shows that storm time values of H' and β were reduced by 1.2 km and 0.06 km-1, respectively. Morlet wavelet analysis of signal amplitudes shows no clearly strong signatures of gravity wave propagation to lowlatitudes during the main and recovery phases. The reduction in VLF signal strength is due to increased signal attenuation and absorption by the Earth-ionosphere waveguide due to storm-induced D region ionization changes and hence changes in D region parameters. The long duration of the storm effect results from the slow diffusion of changed composition/ionization at D region altitudes compared with higher altitudes in the ionosphere.

The Paleogene sedimentary records from southern China hold important clues to the impacts of the Cenozoic climate changes on lowlatitudes. However, although there are extensive Paleogene terrestrial archives and some contain abundant fossils in this region, few are accurately dated or have a temporal resolution adequate to decipher climate changes. Here, we present a detailed stratigraphic and paleomagnetic study of a fossiliferous late Paleogene succession in the Maoming Basin, Guangdong Province. The succession consists of oil shale of the Youganwo Formation (Fm) in the lower part and the overlying sandstone-dominated Huangniuling Fm in the upper part. Fossil records indicate that the age of the succession possibly spans the late Eocene to the Oligocene. Both the Youganwo Fm and the overlying Huangniuling Fm exhibit striking sedimentary rhythms, and spectral analysis of the depth series of magnetic susceptibility of the Youganwo Fm reveals dominant sedimentary cycles at orbital frequency bands. The transition from the Youganwo oil shale to the overlying Huangniuling sandstones is conformable and represents a major depositional environmental change from a lacustrine to a deltaic environment. Integrating the magnetostratigraphic, lithologic, and fossil data allows establishing a substantially refined chronostratigraphic framework that places the major depositional environmental change at 33.88 Ma, coinciding with the Eocene-Oligocene climate transition (EOT) at ˜ 33.7 to ˜ 33.9 Ma. We suggest that the transition from a lacustrine to deltaic environment in the Maoming Basin represents terrestrial responses to the EOT and indicates prevailing drying conditions in low-latitude regions during the global cooling at EOT.

Direct evidence is presented for a causal relationship between lightning and strong electric field transients inside equatorial ionospheric density depletions. In fact, these whistler mode plasma waves may be the dominant electric field signal within such depletions. Optical lightning data from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellite and global lightning location information from the World Wide Lightning Location Network are presented as independent verification that these electric field transients are caused by lightning. The electric field instrument on C/NOFS routinely measures lightning ]related electric field wave packets or sferics, associated with simultaneous measurements of optical flashes at all altitudes encountered by the satellite (401.867 km). Lightning ]generated whistler waves have abundant access to the topside ionosphere, even close to the magnetic equator.

An evaluation of upper stratosphere lower mesosphere (USLM) horizontal winds from MERRA reanalysis is performed using rocket sounding observations that span more than 5 years (November 2002-November 2007) over Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E). With Rocket sonde profiles as reference, bias and root mean square deviation (RMSD) are computed between 10 hPa and 0.1 hPa (∼30-65 km) on annual and seasonal time scales. The present results reveal that observations and reanalysis correlate reasonably well in zonal winds below 60 km. The detailed comparison showed increasing RMSDs with height reaching largest value at 0.1 hPa. RMSD noted in the zonal winds are larger than in the meridional winds. Positive biases are noted in the zonal winds around 50 km with large values during seasonal transition period that led to 30% overestimation of the stratospheric semiannual amplitude. The meridional winds are not well reproduced in the reanalysis. Possible reasons for the differences between MERRA and rocket soundings are discussed. The present study is the first attempt to validate MERRA reanalysis data with observations in the USLM region. Over all good agreement in the zonal winds between MERRA reanalysis data and RH-200 is very encouraging and vouches for using the MERRA reanalysis zonal winds belowProd. Type: FTP 0.1 hPa, but with caution around 1 hPa.

It is presented a long term catalogue of aurorae from the observations done by Joseph Toaldo between 1766-1797 at La Specola (the Observatory) in Padua (Italy, 45º24'07.5''N, 11º52'06.8''E). Toaldo was interested in astrometeorology and was the prime mover and the first director of the Astronomic Observatory where he carried out valuable daily observations on both fields. He also taught astronomy and meteorology at the University of Padua. The data was collected from different historical document sources including the original manuscripts made by Toaldo which also contain meteorological readings. A total of 148 aurorae events were recovered from Toaldo's manuscripts. The data reliability was validated using time and season, percentage of the moon illuminated and aurorae directionality. The data shows a secular maximum of the auroral activity around 1780 that occurred at planetary scale. From 1789 onwards there is a sharp decrease of this activity marking the onset of the Dalton Minimum although the solar activity decreases less rapidly. It has also been collected geomagnetic declination measurements taken in Padua between 1725-1799. These geomagnetic observations are consistent with the geomagnetic model gufm1.

The emission of the upper atmosphere introduces an additional variable component into observations of astronomical objects in the NIR 700 3,000 nm range. The subtraction of this component is not easy because it varies during the night by as much as 100% and it is not homogeneous over the sky. A program aimed at measuring and understanding the main characteristics of the atmospheric NIR emission was undertaken. A 512 × 512 CCD camera equipped with a RG780/2 mm filter is used to obtain images of the sky in a 36° × 36° field of view. The intensities of a given star and of the nearby region devoid of star in a 439 arcmin2 area are monitored during periods of time of several hours. The sky intensity measured in the 754 900 nm bandpass, reduced to zenith and zero airmass is comprised between mag20 and mag18.5 per arcsecond2. A diminution by a factor of two during the night is frequently observed. Intensity fluctuations having an amplitude of 15% and periods of 5 40 min are present in the images with a structure of regularly spaced stripes. The fluctuations of the NIR sky background intensity are due to (1) the chemical evolution of the upper atmosphere composition during the night and (2) dynamical processes such as tides with periods of 3 6 h or gravity waves with periods of several tens of minutes. We suggest that a monitoring of the sky background intensity could be set up when quantitative observations of astronomical objects require exposure times longer than ~10 min. The publication is illustrated with several video films accessible on the web site http://www.obs-besancon.fr/nirsky/. Enter username: nirsky and password: skynir.

Performance expectations for thermionic and thermoelectric energy conversion systems are reviewed. It is noted that internal radiation effects diminish thermoelectric figures of merit significantly at 1000 K and substantially at 2000 K; the effective thermal conductivity contribution of intrathermoelectric radiative dissipation increases with the third power of temperature. It is argued that a consideration of thermoelectric power generation with high temperature heat sources should include utilization of thermionic energy conversion (TEC) topping thermoelectrics. However TEC alone or TEC topping more efficient conversion systems like steam or gas turbines, combined cycles, or Stirling engines would be more desirable generally.

The wave-3 and wave-4 modulations of the Equatorial Ionization Anomalies (EIAs) are a robust feature of the lowlatitude ionosphere, when viewed in a constant local time reference frame. Although initially associated respectively with the DE2 and DE3 nonmigrating diurnal tides coupling upwards from the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region alone, recent results have suggested that the wave-3 and wave-4 components may also have significant contributions from other nonmigrating tidal and stationary planetary wave (SPW) components. In this study, we present observations of tidal and SPW components comprising the ionospheric wave-3 and wave-4 structures from FORMOSAT-3 / COSMIC Total Electron Content (TEC) from 2007-2011. We find that the wave-3 (wave-4) feature is comprised predominately by DE2 (DE3) and SPW3 (SPW4) throughout the entire five year period, with contributions from SE1 (SE2) being less significant. Additionally, the wave-3 component also has recurring contributions from a DW4 component during December/January. The absolute amplitudes of all the aforementioned components are positively correlated to the level of solar activity, as well as the semiannual variation in zonal mean TEC. After normalizing by the zonal mean TEC, the relative amplitudes of the wave-4 related components show an anti-correlation to solar activity through 2010, which is not seen with the wave-3 related components. The seasonal variation and phase relations of the main constituents of wave-3 and wave-4 are consistent from year to year, as evidenced by the inter-annual recurrence in the peak and trough locations of the ionospheric wave-3 and wave-4. Relative amplitudes of DE3 (black) and SPW4 (blue) in COSMIC TECs as a function of time at 15°N (a) and 15°S (b). Units % of maximum daily zonal mean TEC. Range of uncertainties denoted by dotted lines.

We study valleys in the low to mid latitudes of Mars and measure their long profiles, slopes, depths and widths with MOLA PEDR data. We find fifty 'anomalous' valleys with an approximately constant width downstream and an undulating long profile with a lack of tributaries. Altogether, these geometric characteristics are similar to those of terrestrial tunnel valleys formed by meltwater drainage beneath ice covers. The undulating nature of terrestrial tunnel valleys profiles is due to erosion driven by water flowing under the pressure of the overlying ice. Observation of such undulating long profiles on Mars could indicate a subglacial origin for these 'anomalous' valleys. Such an origin for some Martian valley networks is consistent with numerical climate simulations based on current atmospheric characteristics that predict massive accumulations of ice at the Martian equator in response to orbital changes.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOH0)-Ulysses quadratures occur when the SOHO-Sun-Ulysses-included angle is 90 deg. These offer the opportunity to directly compare properties of plasma parcels, observed by SOHO [Dorningo et al.] in the low corona, with properties of the same parcels measured, in due time, in situ, by Ulysses [ Wenzel et al]. We refer the reader to Suess et al. for an extended discussion of SOHO-Ulysses quadrature geometry. Here it suffices to recall that there are two quadratures per year, as SOHO makes its one-year revolution around the Sun. This, because SOHO is at the L1 Lagrangian point, in essentially the same place as the Earth, while Ulysses is in a near-polar -5-year solar orbit with a perihelion of 1.34 AU and aphelion of 5.4 AU.

The structure of the flank low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) is examined through differential energy spectra and particle angular anisotropies for traversals of the dawn flank (December 19, 1977) and dusk flank (July 7, 1978) during periods of predominantly northward magnetosheath field orientation. Spectra are presented that were obtained from combined ISEE 1 low-energy-proton and electron-differential-energy-analyzer and medium-energy-particle-instrument data extending over the 200-eV/q to 2-MeV energy range for the plasma sheet, stagnation region, outer LLBL, and magnetosheath regions. The stagnation region and the outer LLBL are each a mixture of plasma-sheet and magnetosheath populations, but the stagnation region contains a relatively higher fraction of plasma sheet particles, consistent with its placement earthward of the outer LLBL. Evidence for energization of thermal electrons appears during the dusk flank crossing. Bidirectional field-aligned ion distributions are observed with typically 5-to-1 enhancement of the flux along the magnetic field during certain portions of the dusk flank crossing.

The Ionospheric correction algorithms have been characterized extensively for the mid-latitude region of the ionosphere where benign conditions usually exist. The United States Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for civil aircraft navigation is focused primarily on the Conterminous United States (CONUS). Other Satellite-based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) include the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the Japanese Global Navigation Satellite System (MSAS). Researchers are facing a more serious challenge in addressing the ionospheric impact on navigation using SBAS in other parts of the world such as the South American region on India. At equatorial latitudes, geophysical conditions lead to the so-called Appleton-Hartree (equatorial) anomaly phenomenon, which results in significantly larger ionospheric range delays and range delay spatial gradients than is observed in the CONUS or European sectors. In this paper, we use GPS measurements of geomagnetic storm days to perform a quantitative assessment of WAAS-type ionospheric correction algorithms in other parts of the world such as the low-latitude Brazil and mid-latitude Europe. For the study, we access a world-wide network of 400+ dual frequency GPS receivers.

We have analyzed mesospheric temperatures from OH airglow measurements with Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) in the period of 2003 - 2012 at Kiruna (67.9°N, 21.1°E). We also derived mesospheric temperatures from rotational emission lines of the OH airglow (8-3) band in the sky spectra of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in the period of 2000 - 2014. The main objective of SDSS is to make a detailed 3-dimensional map of the universe by observing images and spectra of various celestial objects at Apache Point Observatory (APO, 32°N 105°W). From both temperature sets we first estimated the solar responses of mesospheric temperatures to F10.7 variation and the seasonal variation of mesospheric temperatures. After removing the solar response, we found the long-term mesospheric temperature trends of -4 ˜-6.6 K/decade at Kiruna and -0.02 ± 0.7 K/decade at Apache Point. Our results indicate significant cooling trend at the high latitude but very little or no cooling at the lowlatitude. Although both trends are comparable and consistent with other studies, the temperature trend from SDSS spectra should be regarded as unique contribution to global monitoring of climate change because the SDSS project is completely independent of climate studies.

With increasing reliance on space-based platforms for global navigation and communication, concerns about the impact of ionospheric scintillation and total electron content (TEC) fluctuations on these systems have became a high priority. In this paper, GPS trans-ionospheric signals have been used to study the development of ionospheric phase fluctuations observed at Antarctic (Mawson, Syowa, Vesleskarvet) and European (Ebre, Lamkówko, Cagliari, Hailsham, Potsdam, Wettzell) IGS permanent stations. The use of the multi-station, multi-path observations of the GPS beacons has allowed the study of the time development of irregularities of individual geomagnetic storms as a function of latitude and longitude. The basic storm studied here was this of October 29 - 31, 2003 (sum of Kp = 58). Over Europe, the ionospheric irregularities during this storm were analyzed on the base of TEC maps. Our estimation technique provided TEC maps with 15 min interval and with spatial resolution of 150 - 300 km. Over Antarctic region the rate of TEC (ROT) parameter was used to study the occurrence of TEC fluctuations. The results showed the unique nature of each storm. Fluctuation effects, causing dramatic changes in TEC, can have a different impact on GPS positioning accuracy (especially on phase ambiguity resolution). Bernese ver.5.0 software was used for the processing of the GPS permanent data from analized IGS stations. Two methods of GPS elaboration: relative and absolute (Precise Point Positioning - PPP) was applied to elaborate these data. The analyses rely on studying the repeatability of vector coordinates. The impact of TEC fluctuations at the high latitude ionosphere on GPS positioning accuracy has been discussed in terms of the total number of observations of double-differences (DD) and the ratio of the total number of all ambiguities to unresolved ones. For extremely disturbed conditions at high latitudes, the occurrence of medium and strong TEC fluctuations caused a

The terrestrial environment is influenced continuously by energetic particles and radiation from the Sun that heat and ionize the gases of Earth's upper atmosphere. The absorption of solar energy by atmospheric oxygen leads to a temperature increase from the coldest point in the atmosphere near 90 km altitude, to the hot, nearly isothermal temperatures seen above 300 km. This region is called the thermosphere. Ionization of atmospheric species leads to the formation of a series of plasma layers in this same altitude range. Called the ionosphere, this minor population of charged particles controls much of the dynamics that occur at these altitudes because its principal motion is tied to the Earth's magnetic field lines. Understanding and predicting these interesting, but complex, solar- terrestrial interactions is important for the purpose of mitigating their sometimes hazardous effect on the technological infrastructure of our society. My research concerns the remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere using the EUV/FUV emissions they produce through chemical and physical interactions. I built a suite of spectrographs on the TERRIERS satellite. My laboratory calibration tests for these instruments demonstrated a sensitivity 100-1000 times that of previously flown spectrographs. I have demonstrated the use of tomography, commonly applied to medical imaging problems, to three different remote sensing configurations: a low-altitude spinning satellite, a sensor that only scans near the horizon and limb of the Earth, and a high-altitude imager that obtains spectroscopic images of the full disk of the Earth. Finally, I have used the STP 78-1 and ARGOS satellites to make the first observations of EUV/FUV aurorae produced near the geomagnetic equator during both the daytime and nighttime. These emissions have been previously observed during the night, where the ambient airglow is small. I have combined data from many orbits to demonstrate that these equatorial

We present a geomagnetic quiet time (Dst > -50 nT) empirical model of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) for the northern equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest over Calcutta, India. The model is based on the 1980-1990 TEC measurements from the geostationary Engineering Test Satellite-2 (ETS-2) at the Haringhata (University of Calcutta, India: 22.58° N, 88.38° E geographic; 12.09° N, 160.46° E geomagnetic) ionospheric field station using the technique of Faraday rotation of plane polarized VHF (136.11 MHz) signals. The ground station is situated virtually underneath the northern EIA crest. The monthly mean TEC increases linearly with F10.7 solar ionizing flux, with a significantly high correlation coefficient (r = 0.89-0.99) between the two. For the same solar flux level, the TEC values are found to be significantly different between the descending and ascending phases of the solar cycle. This ionospheric hysteresis effect depends on the local time as well as on the solar flux level. On an annual scale, TEC exhibits semiannual variations with maximum TEC values occurring during the two equinoxes and minimum at summer solstice. The semiannual variation is strongest during local noon with a summer-to-equinox variability of ~50-100 TEC units. The diurnal pattern of TEC is characterized by a pre-sunrise (0400-0500 LT) minimum and near-noon (1300-1400 LT) maximum. Equatorial electrodynamics is dominated by the equatorial electrojet which in turn controls the daytime TEC variation and its maximum. We combine these long-term analyses to develop an empirical model of monthly mean TEC. The model is validated using both ETS-2 measurements and recent GNSS measurements. It is found that the present model efficiently estimates the TEC values within a 1-σ range from the observed mean values.

The recently published MOC-NA database of sedimentary rock locations shows an extraordinary concentration of sedimentary rocks near the equator - 64% at <10° latitude (59% when Valles Marineris is excluded). These rocks overwhelmingly date from the late Noachian to the middle Hesperian, when many sulfate-bearing deposits formed. With the reasonable assumption that liquid water is required for lithification, we hypothesize that liquid water only occurred near the equator during this era. As an initial test of this hypothesis, we model melting on Early Mars assuming a weak greenhouse effect similar to today. Combining the Laskar group's chaotic diffusion parameterization of orbital evolution with simple assumptions about ice stability, we show that melting under a weak greenhouse is most likely when (1) obliquity is high, (2) eccentricity is moderately high, (3) at equinox, (4) when the longitude of perihelion corresponds to equinox, and (5) at the equator. We compare discharge results from a snowpack Energy Balance Model to published discharge constraints at three Early Mars locations - SW Melas, Gale-Aeolis-Zephyria, and Meridiani. If these discharges cannot be reproduced under a weak greenhouse similar to today, then a stronger Early Mars greenhouse effect is required to explain these observations. We show how the fraction of a precession cycle during which melting occurs - the 'stratigraphic wet fraction' - can be used to set a lower bound on the strength of the Early Mars greenhouse effect. The stratigraphic wet fraction can be measured by MSL at Gale.

Seven Nike Apache rockets, each equipped with an energetic particle spectrometer (12 E 80 keV) and electron-density experiments, were launched from Wallops Island, Virginia and Chilca, Peru, under varying geomagnetic conditions near midnight. At Wallops Island the energetic particle flux (E 40 keV) is found to be strongly dependent on Kp. The pitch-angle distribution is asymmetrical about a peak at 90 D signifying a predominately quasi-trapped flux and explaining the linear increase of count rate with altitute in the altitude region 120 to 200 km. The height-averaged ionization rates derived from the electron-density profiles are consistent with the rates calculated from the observed total particle flux for magnetic index Kp 3. In the region 90 to 110 km it is found that the nighttime ionization is primarily a result of Ly-beta radiation from the geocorona and interplanetary hydrogen for even very disturbed conditions. Below 90 km during rather disturbed conditions energetic electrons can be a significant ionization source. Two energetic particle precipitation zones have been identified at midlatitudes.

Islands, our data allow to construct a curve illustrating the Earth magnetic field intensity fluctuations for Southwestern Europe/Western Africa. This curve shows three maximum broad intensity features which are also observed in the Middle East and in Central Asia indicating that they have a very large geographical extent. These maxima do not all appear clearly in the models of variations of the dipolar field intensity which have an insufficient resolution. Within the broad maxima characterizing the first millenium BC, regional variability is observed in particular with high PI around 1000 BC in the middle East and around 600 BC in southwestern Europe. This corresponds to a westward drift rate of 0.1° longitude/yr, consistent with the values generally accepted for the westward drift of the non-dipole field.

River sediment cores provide a record of past environmental changes through stacked layers of sediments. In core CD02-29A, recovered from the southern Hudson River, a significant number of tropical planktic foraminifer tests were found. Foraminifera were concentrated in sediment layers of low impedance, suggesting high carbonate content. Because modern planktic foraminifera are exclusively marine, their presence in Hudson sediments in the core was remarkable. We can think of only two mechanisms that could explain this observation: either living specimens are carried upriver with the daily tides, or storm surges carry large amounts of seawater and re-suspended marine sediment upriver. To test for the presence of living specimens in Hudson River water, plankton tow samples were collected during high tide at the Hudson Battery south of the sample site, and at Piermont Pier north of the sample site and no living foraminifera were found. In addition, oxygen isotope (δ18O) analyses reveal a marine composition but the large difference in δ18O between the two surface dwelling species Globigerinoides ruber (pink) and Globigerinoides sacculifer, picked from the same sediment layer, suggests re-suspension and mixing of marine sediment deposits. Because only planktic, tropical to subtropical foraminiferal assemblages were found, the Hudson River deposits differ from previously recorded storm deposits found on Long Island and in New Jersey. In particular, the foraminiferal assemblages contain up to 40% G. ruber (pink), suggesting a highly tropical signal from a location where abundances of G. ruber are very low. This data, in addition to the pulsed occurrence of tests in the sediment suggests that the introduction of planktic foraminifera into the Hudson River must be driven by rare events. We suggest that storm surges from rare high-intensity hurricanes most likely explain the presence of these tests in Hudson River sediments, possibly assisted by the Gulf Stream entraining

The author discusses the types of information contained in the Vocational-Technical Consortium of the States (V-TECS) databases and various supplemental tools; he also describes methods of obtaining access to the databases. (CH)

Turkey is a country located in the middle latitude zone, where tectonic activity is intensive. Recently, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 Mw occurred offshore in the Aegean Sea on 24 May 2014 at 09:25 UTC, which lasted about 40 s. The earthquake was also felt in Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria in addition to Turkey. In recent years, ionospheric anomaly detection studies have been carried out because of seismicity with total electron content (TEC) computed from the global navigation satellite system's (GNSS) signal delays and several interesting findings have been published. In this study, both TEC and positional variations have been examined separately following a moderate size earthquake in the Aegean Sea. The correlation of the aforementioned ionospheric variation with the positional variation has also been investigated. For this purpose, a total of 15 stations was used, including four continuously operating reference stations in Turkey (CORS-TR) and stations in the seismic zone (AYVL, CANA, IPSA, and YENC), as well as international GNSS service (IGS) and European reference frame permanent network (EPN) stations. The ionospheric and positional variations of the AYVL, CANA, IPSA, and YENC stations were examined using Bernese v5.0 software. When the precise point positioning TEC (PPP-TEC) values were examined, it was observed that the TEC values were approximately 4 TECU (total electron content unit) above the upper-limit TEC value at four stations located in Turkey, 3 days before the earthquake at 08:00 and 10:00 UTC. At the same stations, on the day before the earthquake at 06:00, 08:00, and 10:00 UTC, the TEC values were approximately 5 TECU below the lower-limit TEC value. The global ionosphere model TEC (GIM-TEC) values published by the Centre for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) were also examined. Three days before the earthquake, at all stations, it was observed that the TEC values in the time period between 08:00 and 10:00 UTC were approximately 2 TECU

The early Eocene climatic optimum (EECO, ~53 Ma) is the warmest interval of the Cenozoic. Recent studies suggest tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) well in excess of 30°C, even warmer than previous datasets had implied. If correct, these estimates carry implications for Earth’s current warming trend. Conflicting interpretations of data from planktonic foraminifera, however, leave some uncertainty about how much warmer, if at all, the EECO was at lowlatitudes in comparison to today. Additional evidence from independent proxy records is necessary to resolve the discrepancy. Shallow-marine mollusks provide an alternative source of paleoclimate information and do not suffer from the same diagenetic concerns as microfossils. The US Gulf Coastal Plain preserves a record of marine shelf deposition through the Paleogene characterized by excellent preservation of primary shell aragonite and minimal diagenesis; sediments are generally unlithified even after 55 million years. Oxygen isotope values from the bivalve Venericardia of the Hatchetigbee Formation, spanning the EECO, yield warm paleotemperatures with seemly high seasonal temperature ranges that have been attributed to freshwater mixing. Here, we use a combination of oxygen, strontium, and clumped isotope analyses on shells from multiple stratigraphic horizons in order to evaluate the influence of fresh water on the stable isotope signal, and hence better constrain subtropical paleotemperatures during this key interval of Earth history. Consistency of oxygen isotope values from seasonal extremes both within and across horizons would argue for more fully marine conditions and hence reliable paleotemperatures. Our data yield consistent winter values that equate to temperatures of ~24°C, but very warm and more variable summer temperatures ranging from 31° to 36°C. The variability and extreme warmth of summer temperatures, in combination with the large seasonal range, suggest the possibility of seasonal

The dispersive nature of the ionosphere makes it possible to measure its total electron content (TEC). Thus Global Positioning System, which uses dual-frequency radio signals, is an ideal system to measure TEC. When data from an ionosonde situated in polar region was observed, the height of an approximated thin shell of electrons (shell height) used in GPS studies was seen not to be fixed but rather changing with time. Here we introduce a new method in which we included the varying shell heights derived from the ionosonde to map the slant total electron content from GPS to obtain a more precise vertical total electron content of the ionosphere contrary to some previous methods which used fixed shell heights. In this paper we also compared the ionosonde derived TEC with the GPS derived vertical TEC (vTEC) values. These GPS vTEC values were obtained from GPS slant TEC (sTEC) measurements using both fixed shell height and varying shell heights (from ionosonde measurements). For the polar regions, the varying shell height approach produced better results than the fixed shell height and compared to exponential function, Chapman function seems to be a better function to model the topside ionosphere.

Response of the D-region of the ionosphere to the total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 at lowlatitude, Varanasi (geomagnetic lat = 140 55'N, longitude = 1540 E, dip. angle = 37.30) was investigated using ELF/VLF radio signal. The solar eclipse started at 05:30:04.4 hrs IST and lasted up to 07:27 hrs IST with totally from 6.25 IST to 6.27 IST.The changes in D-region ionospheric VLF reflection heights and electron density during eclipse have been estimated from tweek analysis. The reflection height increased from ~90 km from the first occurrence of tweek to about 93-94 km at the totality and then decreased to ~89 km at the end of the eclipse. The reflection heights are lower by 2-3 km as compared to the usual nighttime tweek reflection heights. The electron density is found to vary between 25-27 cm-3 at the reflection heights. The significant increase in tweek reflection height of about 15 km during the eclipse as compared to the daytime (morning) reflection heights of ~ 78 km is observed. Observations suggest that about 30-40% obscuration of solar disc can lead to the tweeks occurrence which otherwise occur only in the nighttime. A significant increase of 3dB in the strength of the amplitude of VLF signal is observed around the time of TSE as compared to a control day. These lowlatitude ionospheric perturbations on the eclipse day are discussed and compared with other normal days. During a solar eclipse, the decrease in solar flux due to moon's shadow causes sudden change in the D-region physical and chemical processes. During the totality due to blocking of Lyman-α 1215Å (major D-region ionizing radiation) by moon's umbral shadow, the electron density decreases drastically towards the nighttime values [Smith, 1972]. During the TSE, there was no production of ionization in the ionosphere and the ions and electrons in the lowest part of it recombined at a rapid rate resulting a depletion in the electron density in the 'D' region of the Ionosphere and hence an

Large heat storage capacity in the western equatorial Pacific (WEP) has played an important role in modulating global climate. The drying up of the huge continental platform around Indonesian Maritime continent during low sea level increased the supply rate of lithogenic matter to the ocean. Positive correlation between lithogenic content and the relative abundance of fern spores suggests that lithogenics in C4402 (3N, 135E, 4402 m water depth) could be derived from coastal lowland of New Guinea. Less rainfall during glacial times (OIS 2, 3, 4 and 4/5 boundary) generally enhanced transport of pollen by wind to Site C4402. Comparison of MAR of organic carbon (MARoc), reflecting primary production, showed big contrast between Pacific and Indian sides. Core C4402 showed high MARoc in OIS 2, 3, late 6, 6/7 boundary and 8. The record in core C2188 (4N, 141E, 2188 m water depth)located in less productive area of the WEP exhibited less fluctuation with higher values during glacial times; OIS 2, 3, 4 and late 8 except for the middle 5. The MARoc data in core O3187 (1N, 160E, 3187 m water depth) from the oligotrophic WEP displayed low values with little fluctuation. In association with the shallow thermocline, biological productivity was controlled by wind-induced surface water mixing or terrestrial inputs around Site C4402 while more intense upwelling driven by stronger winds might have made little difference to the low to medium productivity because the deeper thermocline prevented nutrient-bearing water from upwelling even during the glacial times. In contrast, MARoc in core GC5 (14S, 121E, 2472m water depth)increased gradually from OIS 6 to 3, peaked in OIS 1/2 boundary and rapidly decreased to Holocene. This profile is quite different from those obtained from the WEP. Although both sites are under influence of Asian monsoon, Site GC5 (Indian side) might have experienced continental environmental environmental change more while Site C4402 (Pacific side) remained under oceanic condition because of hundreds km from New Guinea.

Using ground-based GPS and digital ionosonde instruments, we have built up at latitudes of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), in the Brazilian sector, a time-evolving picture of total electron content (TEC), L-band amplitude scintillations, and F region heights, and we have investigated likely reasons for the occurrence or suppression of equatorial scintillations during the disturbed period of 18-23 November 2003. During the prestorm quiet nights, scintillations are occurring postsunset, as expected; however, during the storm time period, their spatial-temporal characteristics and intensity modify significantly owing to the dramatic changes in the ionospheric plasma density distribution and in the temporal evolution of TEC. The two-dimensional maps showing both TEC and amplitude scintillations revealed strong evidence of turbulences at the Fresnel length (causing scintillations) concurrent with those regions of steepest TEC gradients adjacent to the crests of the EIA. The largest density gradients have been found to occur in an environment of increased background electron density, and their spatial distribution and location during the disturbed period may differ significantly from the magnetic quiet night pattern. However, in terms of magnitude the gradients at equatorial and lowlatitudes appear to not change during both magnetic quiet and disturbed conditions. The scenarios for the formation or suppression of scintillation-producing Fresnel-scale irregularities during the prestorm quiet nights and disturbed nights are discussed in view of different competing effects computed from numerical simulation techniques.

GPS data obtained from two equatorial stations of Ilorin (geographic Lat. 8.53°N, Long. 4.57°E and geomagnetic Lat. 10.57°N, Long. 78.56°E) and Toro (geographic Lat. 10.12°N, Long. 9.12°W and geomagnetic Lat. 11.36°N, Long. 83.35°E) have been used to study the response of vertical TEC to four geomagnetic storms which occurred during 22-23 Jan, 23-26 Jan, 6-8 March and 8-11 March in the year 2012. Three of these events were in the category of moderate storms (-50 > Dst > -100 nT) while the 8-11 March event was in the category of intense storm (-100 > Dst > -200 nT). Results obtained show that TEC response can either be enhancement or depletion irrespective of the category of the storm. While the main and recovery phases of the 23-26 Jan. and 6-8 March, 2012 moderate events produced TEC enhancement at Toro, TEC depletions were observed at Ilorin during the main phases of these two events. The result of the analysis of the 22-23 Jan, 2012 moderate storms with sudden commencement shows that response of TEC to the main phase was depletion at both stations. Percentage deviations in TEC with respect to quiet time averages ranged between -19% and +21% at Toro and -42% to +34% at Ilorin. The moderate storms with gradual commencement (i.e. 23-26 Jan and 6-8 March events) have different effects on TEC at the two stations. While the initial and recovery phases of the 23-24 Jan event produced significant TEC enhancement at both stations (+119% at Toro and +82% at Ilorin), the recovery phase of the 6-8 March event produced enhancement at Toro and depletion at Ilorin. The intense storm of 8-11 March, 2012 produced almost opposite effects on TEC at the two stations. While the effect at Toro was TEC enhancement of 0% to +116% during all the three phases, TEC fluctuations at Ilorin ranged between -36% and +28% during the initial and main phases.

The variations during 09-14-March-2015 quit days and 15-20 March 2015 disturbed days of Total Electron Content (TEC) values (provided by IONOLAB group) obtained by analysis the data from Ankara Global Position System (GPS) station of Turkey located at mid-latitude, IRI -2012 model the and IRI-PLUS model are investigated. Also, the variations of the geomagnetic, interplanetary and solar wind parameters are examined. As a result of investigations, TEC values from all three models are not change too much at quit days. Unlike, at the disturbed days, although IRI-2012 and IRI-PLUS TEC values are not change too much, a noticeable change in GPS-TEC values is occurred. GPS-TEC values are rapidly increased on 17-March 2015 to be severe magnetic storm (Dst = -124 nT). Then, on following days it was observed to significantly decrease. Thus, it is said that GPS-TEC values are more sensitive than IRI-2012 and IRI-PLUS models to variations occurred on disturbed days.

The quest to find an index for proper characterization and description of the dynamical response of the ionosphere to external influences and its various internal irregularities has led to the study of the day-to-day variations of the chaoticity and dynamical complexity of the ionosphere. This study was conducted using Global Positioning System (GPS) total electron content (TEC) time series, measured in the year 2011, from five GPS receiver stations in Nigeria, which lies within the equatorial ionization anomaly region. The non-linear aspects of the TEC time series were obtained by detrending the data. The detrended TEC time series were subjected to various analyses to obtain the phase space reconstruction and to compute the chaotic quantifiers, which are Lyapunov exponents LE, correlation dimension, and Tsallis entropy, for the study of dynamical complexity. Considering all the days of the year, the daily/transient variations show no definite pattern for each month, but day-to-day values of Lyapunov exponents for the entire year show a wavelike semiannual variation pattern with lower values around March, April, September and October. This can be seen from the correlation dimension with values between 2.7 and 3.2, with lower values occurring mostly during storm periods, demonstrating a phase transition from higher dimension during the quiet periods to lower dimension during storms for most of the stations. The values of Tsallis entropy show a similar variation pattern to that of the Lyapunov exponent, with both quantifiers correlating within the range of 0.79 to 0.82. These results show that both quantifiers can be further used together as indices in the study of the variations of the dynamical complexity of the ionosphere. The presence of chaos and high variations in the dynamical complexity, even in quiet periods in the ionosphere, may be due to the internal dynamics and inherent irregularities of the ionosphere which exhibit non-linear properties. However, this

Blue whales, Balaenoptera musculus, were once abundant around the Antarctic during the austral summer, but intensive whaling during the first half of the 20th century reduced their numbers by over 99%. Although interannual variability of blue whale occurrence on the Antarctic feeding grounds was documented by whalers, little was known about where the whales spent the winter months. Antarctic blue whales produce calls that are distinct from those produced by blue whales elsewhere in the world. To investigate potential winter migratory destinations of Antarctic blue whales, we examined acoustic data for these signals from two low-latitude locales: the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Antarctic-type blue whale calls were detected on hydrophones in both regions during the austral autumn and winter (May-September), with peak detections in July. Calls occurred over relatively brief periods in both oceans, suggesting that there may be only a few animals migrating so far north and/or producing calls. Antarctic blue whales appear to use both the Indian and eastern Pacific Oceans concurrently, indicating that there is not a single migratory destination. Acoustic data from the South Atlantic and from mid-latitudes in the Indian or Pacific Oceans are needed for a more global understanding of migratory patterns and destinations of Antarctic blue whales.

In the present work we analyze the disturbed electric field effects in the sporadic E-layers at equatorial regions, Jicamarca (11.57°S, 76.52°O, I: -2°) and São Luís (2°S, 44° O, I: -2.3°), and at lowlatitude regions, Fortaleza (3.9°S, 38.45°O, I: -9°) and Cachoeira Paulista (22.42°S, 45°O, I: -15°). We have conducted a deep analysis to investigate these effects using a theoretical model for the ionospheric E region, called MIRE. This model is able to simulate the Es layers taking into account the E region winds and electric fields. It calculates the densities for the main molecular (NO^{+}, O_{2}^{+}, N_{2}^{+}) and metallic ions (Fe^{+}, Mg^{+}) by solving the continuity and momentum equations for each species. The main purpose of this analysis is to verify the disturbed electric fields role in the occurrence or disruption of Es layers through simulations. The analysis show that the Es layer formation and dynamics can be influenced by the prompt penetration electric fields that occur during magnetic disturbances. Therefore, the simulations present interesting results that helps to improve the understanding of Es layer behavior during the disturbed periods.

This study examines the structure and variability of the ionospheric TEC anomalies driven by geomagnetic storms. For this purpose the CODE global ionospheric TEC data from four geomagnetically disturbed periods (29 October-1 November 2003, 7-10 November 2004, 14-15 December 2006, and 5-6 August 2011) have been considered. By applying the tidal analysis to the geomagnetically forced TEC anomalies we made an attempt to identify the tidal or stationary planetary wave (SPW) signatures that may contribute to the generation of these anomalies. It has been found that three types of positive anomalies with different origin and different latitudinal appearance are observed. These are: (i) anomalies located near latitudes of ±40° and related to the enhancement and poleward moving of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests; (ii) anomalies located near latitudes of ±60° and seen predominantly in the night-side ionosphere, and (iii) very high latitude anomalies having mainly zonally symmetric structure and related to the auroral heating and thermospheric expansion. The decomposition analysis revealed that these anomalies can be reconstructed as a result of superposition of the following components: zonal mean (ZM), diurnal migrating (DW1), zonally symmetric diurnal (D0), and stationary planetary wave 1 (SPW1).

The main geomagnetic field declination has a global distribution with positive and negative values showing maximum east-west differences over North America and Oceania and minimum differences over America and Asia. Several authors study one or more of these regions using TEC data derived from GNSS observations to describe variations in TEC. They reported a pronounced longitudinal variation respect to zero magnetic declination. One of the important factors that cause the longitude difference at mid-latitude is a combined effect of the longitude variations of magnetic declination and the variations of the zonal thermospheric winds with local time. We propose to study this effect using Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) and the respective TEC values generated from the International Reference Ionospheric (IRI) model, during a solar cycle, applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Our works is focused over different local times and regions at mid-latitude. PCA involves a mathematical procedure that transforms a number of correlated variables into a number of uncorrelated variables using the data itself. The spatial structure of the ionosphere variability and its temporal evolution, together are called modes, and there are ordered according to their percentage of the variability of data from highest to lowest. In this analysis the first mode has more than the 90 % of the variability, representing the nominal behavior of the ionosphere, and the second and third modes are the more important for our analysis, because they show the strong longitudinal variation in the different regions using either GIMs or the IRI model.

In this thesis we investigate the evolution of the wave and large scale Poynting flux on earth's night side at altitudes from the auroral acceleration regions to the near earth tail over the course of major geomagnetic storms. Specifically, we are examining the field aligned components of the Poynting flux which carries energy from the tail into the auroral acceleration regions and to the ionosphere, and the down going field aligned electron kinetic energy flux. During major storm Poynting flux, over the range of observed time scales (from 6-180 seconds, and 600 -7200 seconds) intensify significantly (between one and three orders of magnitude), even down to lowlatitudes (≤ 65o invariant latitude). Concurrently, over the same range of latitudes, but at low altitudes, the downward electron kinetic energy flux enhances by at least an order of magnitude. The wave Poynting flux is thus shown to be a significant energy transport mechanism at lowlatitudes during storms, which provides strong evidence that Alfven waves can be an important mechanism for auroral electron acceleration at lowlatitudes. This result is important, in part because lowlatitudes are on field lines mapping to the inner magnetosphere, and the nature of the energy transport processes associated with the near tail and inner magnetosphere are not yet fully understood. Most previous research on the Alfven wave powered aurora focused on the higher latitude regions of the auroral zone and plasma sheet boundary layer. Prior studies were also conducted with either localized spacecraft conjunctions or with long term statistical compilations. The study presented herein is the first to examine the wave Poynting flux evolution over the course of major storms, from pre-storm, main phase, and recovery phase, from a high altitude standpoint on an orbit by orbit basis and to compare this to the low altitude electron kinetic energy flux. We find that the latitudinal evolution of the intensities of the high

NeQuick 2 is the latest version of the three-dimensional and time dependent ionospheric electron density model developed at the T/ICT4D (former ARPL) of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) - Trieste, Italy and at the Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology of the University of Graz, Austria. The purpose of this work is to identify possible limitations of the model. Therefore, the ability of NeQuick 2 in reproducing the vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) derived from GPS observations using different input sources has been evaluated. The daily solar flux in 10.7 cm, the monthly smoothed solar flux and the hourly daily ionosonde derived F2 peak parameters, foF2 and hmF2, have been therefore used as model drivers to compute the vTEC at the relevant locations. Peak parameter values from three ionosonde stations (Ebre, El Arenosillo and Ramey) and GPS-derived vTEC data obtained from the corresponding co-located receivers (ebre, sfer, pur3) have been processed for the present work. The available data for the years 2000 and 2004, corresponding to high and moderate solar activity periods, have been considered to be able to estimate the model performance in a wide range of geophysical conditions. For each location, the data analysis has been based on statistical comparisons between experimental and retrieved vTEC. The results indicate that the differences between NeQuick 2-computed and GPS-derived vTEC exhibit well defined diurnal and seasonal patterns that depend on the location and period considered. On average, NeQuick 2 underestimates the vTEC during nighttime, mainly in the winter months and slightly during the summer months. In the daytime hours on the European locations, the model generally overestimates the vTEC in winter months, having an opposite behavior in the summer months. At PRJ18/pur3 location the NeQuick 2 response is more complex. During high solar activity, the daily difference between modeled and GPS

Ionosphere is one of the atmosphere layers which has a plasma structure. Several mechanisms originating from both space and earth itself governs this plasma layer such as solar radiation and geomagnetic effects. Ionosphere plays important role for HF and satellite communication, and space based positioning systems. Therefore, the determination of statistical behavior of ionosphere has utmost importance. The variability of the ionosphere has complex spatio-temporal characteristics, which depends on solar, geomagnetic, gravitational and seismic activities. Total Electron Content (TEC) is one of the major observables for investigating and determining this variability. In this study, spatio-temporal within-the-hour statistical behavior of TEC is determined for Turkey, which is located in mid-latitude, using the TEC estimates from Turkish National Permanent GPS Network (TNPGN)-Active between the years 2009 and 2012. TEC estimates are obtained as IONOLAB-TEC which is developed by IONOLAB group (www.ionolab.org) from Hacettepe University. IONOLAB-TEC for each station in TNPGN-Active is organized in a database and grouped with respect to years, ionospheric seasons, hours and regions 2 degree by 3 degree, in latitude and longitude, respectively. The data sets are used to calculate within-the-hour parametric Probability Density Functions (PDF). For every year, every region and every hour, a representative PDF is determined. It is observed that TEC values have a strong hourly, seasonal and positional dependence on east-west direction, and the growing trend shifts according to sunrise and sunset times. It is observed that the data are distributed predominantly as Lognormal and Weibull. The averages and standard deviations of the chosen distributions follow the trends in 24 hour diurnal and 11 year solar cycle periods. The regional and seasonal behavior of PDFs are investigated using a representative GPS station within each region. Within-the-hour PDF estimates are grouped into

This paper investigates the capacity of the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2012) model in predicting the vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) over Ethiopian regions during solar minimum (2009) and solar maximum (2013) phases. This has been carried out by comparing the IRI-2012 modeled and experimental vTEC inferred from eight ground based dual frequency GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers installed recently at different regions of the country. In this work, the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variation in the measured vTEC have been analyzed and compared with the IRI-2012 modeled vTEC. During the solar minimum phase, the lowest and highest diurnal peak of the experimental vTEC are observed in July and October, respectively. In general, the diurnal variability of vTEC has shown minimum values around 0300 UT (0600 LT) and maximum values between around 1000 and 1300 UT (1300 and 1600 LT) during both solar activity phases. Moreover, the maximum and minimum monthly and seasonal mean hourly vTEC values are observed in October and July and in the March equinox and June solstice, respectively. It is also shown that the IRI-2012-model better predicts the diurnal vTEC in the time interval of about 0000-0300 UT (0300-0600 LT) during the solar minimum phase. However, the model generally overestimates the diurnal vTEC except in the time interval of about 0900-1500 UT (1200-1800 LT) during the solar maximum phase. The overall result of this work shows that the diurnal vTEC prediction performance of the model is generally better during the solar minimum phase than during solar maximum phase. Regarding the monthly and seasonal prediction capacity of the model, there is a good agreement between the modeled and measured monthly and seasonal mean hourly vTEC values in January and December solstice, respectively. Another result of the work depicts that unlike the GPS-TEC the IRI-2012 TEC does not respond to the effect resulted from geomagnetic

Over the last decade, the Tec family of nonreceptor tyrosine kinases (Btk, Tec, Bmx, Itk, and Rlk) have been shown to play a key role in inflammation and bone destruction. Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk) has been the most widely studied due to the critical role of this kinase in B-cell development and recent evidence showing that blocking Btk signaling is effective in ameliorating lymphoma progression and experimental arthritis. This review will examine the role of TFK in myeloid cell function and the potential of targeting these kinases as a therapeutic intervention in autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. PMID:22449071

This annual report of the V-TECS (Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States) includes a progress report and an explanation of V-TECS itself. (V-TECS is a consortium whose principal objective is to produce catalogs of performance objectives, and performance guides for use in vocational-technical curriculum development.) First, the…

NeQuick 2 ionospheric empirical model depends on global ionospheric coefficients that are estimated from unevenly distributed ionosonde measurements. In regions, like Africa, where very few observational data were available until recently, the model estimated the ionospheric peak parameters by interpolation. When one wants to employ the model to specify the ionosphere where very few data have been used for model development, the performances of the model need careful validation. This study investigates the performances of NeQuick 2 in the East African region by assisting the model with measurements from a single Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, which has been deployed recently. This can be done by first calculating an effective ionization level that drives NeQuick 2 to compute slant total electron content (sTEC) which fits, in the least square sense, with the measurements taken from a single GPS receiver. We then quantify the performances of NeQuick 2 in reproducing the measured TEC by running the model at four other locations, where GPS stations are available, using the same effective ionization level that we calculated from a single GPS station as a driver of the model. Finally, the performances of the model before and after data ingestion have been investigated by comparing the model results with the experimental sTEC and vertical TEC (vTEC) obtained from the four test stations. Three months data during low solar activity conditions have been used for this study. We have shown that the capability of NeQuick 2, in describing the East African region of the ionosphere, can be improved substantially by data ingestion. We found that the model after ingestion reproduces the experimental TEC better as far as about 620 km away from the reference station than that before adaptation. The statistical comparisons of the performances of the model in reproducing sTEC before and after ingestion are also discussed in this study.

Aiming at the characteristic of nonlinear and non-stationary in ionospheric total electron content(TEC), this article bring Wavelet Analysis into the autoregressive integrated moving average model to forecast the next four days' TEC values by using six days' ionospheric grid observation data of Chinese area in 2010 provided by IGS station. Taking IGS station's observation data as true value, compare the forecast value with it then count the forecast accuracies which are to prove that it has a quite good result by using WARIMA model to forecast Chinese area's Ionospheric grid data. But near the geomagnetic latitude of about +/-20°grid, the model's forecast results are a little worse than others' because Geomagnetic activity is irregular which lead to the TEC values there change greatly.

The Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) conducted a marketing study that considered the implications of six options for the organization's future. The first option is continuation of the status quo, which is dangerous because existing members may leave the consortium. The second option is the status quo combined with an…

This document includes 16 vocational-technical crosswalk wheels relating the 14 Vocational Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) Career Families to the 16 Career Clusters developed by the U.S. Department of Education. The career clusters are based on the common academic, workplace, and technical knowledge and skills that cut across all…

This document represents a continuation of efforts partially reported in UNIVERSITIES AND TEACHER EDUCATION CENTERS IN FLORIDA. The present (1979) report presupposes the reader's familiarity with the contents of that previous document, and attempts to add to the picture of universities and TEC's by updating developments through the 1978-79 service…

This package contains a paper summarizing the aims and services provided by the Business and Technician Education Council (B/TEC). Established to advance the quality and availability of a wide range of employment-related education to persons in the United Kingdom who are studying at or beyond the equivalent of the American associate-degree level,…

The present study reports the characteristics of the bottom-side profile thickness (B0) and shape (B1) parameters from ionosonde and IRI-2012 model over the Brazilian sector. The ionosonde data from an equatorial station Fortaleza and a lowlatitude station Cachoera Paulista during a two year period from 2010 to 2011 are considered in this study. Simultaneous comparison is made on the performance of three different options 'Gul-1987', 'Bil-2000' and the 'ABT-2009' for bottom-side profile estimation in the latest available IRI-2012. The diurnal and seasonal characteristics of the B0 and B1 from ionosonde measurements are studied and compared with those from the IRI-2012 model using the three different options. It is seen that the Gul-1987 method shows better predictions of the observed B0 at the equatorial and lowlatitudes values when compared with the other options. The latest option 'ABT-2009' has shown improved predictions in the estimation of B1 compared with those from the other methods particularly during the night-time hours. A comparison on the seasonal characteristics of the day maximum values of B0 between observations and the three different options in IRI-2012 reveals that the Gul-1987 method shows better predictions of the seasonal variations in B0 while ABT-2009 method shows better predictions of seasonal variations in B1. Further, an insight into the percentage of deviations in the estimation of B0 and B1 reveals that the models overestimate the B0 during night-time and underestimate the B0 (at equator) during day-time while they underestimate the B1 during night-time hours at both locations. Also, the variations in the bottom-side total electron content are studied using the three different methods in the IRI-2012 model and compared with those derived from the ionosonde observations.

The present study reports the characteristics of the bottom-side profile thickness (B0) and shape (B1) parameters from ionosonde and IRI-2012 model over the Brazilian sector. The ionosonde data from an equatorial station Fortaleza and a lowlatitude station Cachoera Paulista during a two year period from 2010 to 2011 are considered in this study. Simultaneous comparison is made on the performance of three different options 'Gul-1987', 'Bil-2000' and the 'ABT-2009' for bottom-side profile estimation in the latest available IRI-2012. The diurnal and seasonal characteristics of the B0 and B1 from ionosonde measurements are studied and compared with those from the IRI-2012 model using the three different options. It is seen that the Gul-1987 method shows better predictions of the observed B0 at the equatorial and lowlatitudes values when compared with the other options. The latest option 'ABT-2009' has shown improved predictions in the estimation of B1 compared with those from the other methods particularly during the night-time hours. A comparison on the seasonal characteristics of the day maximum values of B0 between observations and the three different options in IRI-2012 reveals that the Gul-1987 method shows better predictions of the seasonal variations in B0 while ABT-2009 method shows better predictions of seasonal variations in B1. Further, an insight into the percentage of deviations in the estimation of B0 and B1 reveals that the models overestimate the B0 during night-time and underestimate the B0 (at equator) during day-time while they underestimate the B1 during night-time hours at both locations. Also, the variations in the bottom-side total electron content are studied using the three different methods in the IRI-2012 model and compared with those derived from the ionosonde observations.

Sensors are being developed to provide a satellite-based VHF global lightning monitor (e.g. Suszcynsky, et al., "VHF Global Lightning and Severe Storm Monitoring from Space: Storm-level Characterization of VHF Lightning Emissions," EOS Trans. AGU 2001 Fall Mt. Prog. And Abstr. 82, No. 47, F143, 2001). Dispersive effects of propagation of the lightning electromagnetic wave through the ionospheric and plasmaspheric plasmas cause the higher frequency components to arrive at the satellite before lower frequency components. From the time-of-arrival at several frequencies we can derive the TEC between the satellite and the lightning. Using multi-satellite techniques we can geolocate the lightning and the ionospheric penetration point quite accurately. A single ground station could provide essentially real-time regional TEC coverage. Four ground stations could provide global, real-time TEC measurements to supplement existing ground-based systems, especially over broad ocean areas. We expect several lightning detections per satellite per minute. Temporal resolution will be limited only by ground segment processing. Spatial coverage and resolution will be limited by lightning occurrence, but many commercial sector TEC requirements are also correlated to lightning occurrence. With our FORTE (Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events) satellite we sense lightning over most of the globe including the oceans. We expect to determine TEC spatial gradients with tens of km resolution. This capability should be especially useful in severe convective weather to aircraft using GPS-based navigation, e.g. the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).

Recent studies have proposed competing hypotheses to explain increased opal fluxes in high and lowlatitudes during the most recent deglaciation. Anderson et al. (2009) rely on increased wind-driven upwelling in the Southern Ocean to explain the increased availability of Si in both the Southern Ocean and tropical thermoclines, leading to increased opal fluxes in both regions coincident with the deglacial rise in CO2. Meckler et al. (2013) suggest that a decrease in the presence of North Atlantic intermediate water (GNAIW) during the deglaciation allowed Si-rich southern-sourced waters to fill the tropical Atlantic leading to increased opal burial. We attempt to distinguish between these two mechanisms by reconstructing opal fluxes and fluxes of windblown dust over the past ~65ka at four sites along the northwest African margin. The records include the deglaciation, including Heinrich Event 1 (H1) and the Younger Dryas (YD), as well as several earlier Heinrich events. We find that opal and dust fluxes increase simultaneously during the deglaciation, and more highly resolved cores record H1 and the YD as distinct peaks within the deglaciation. Furthermore, opal and dust fluxes scale approximately linearly with one another during these events. We observe opal peaks associated with most Heinrich Events through H6. Finally, we observe a strong similarity between patterns of opal flux in the Southern Ocean and along the African Margin. This suggests that the pattern of diatom productivity and opal flux along the African Margin reflects a combination of changes in wind strength due to shifting temperature gradients, and changes in the export of silica-rich water from the Southern Ocean, both as a result of the global scale climate changes associated with Heinrich Events. Anderson, R. F., S. Ali, L. I. Bradtmiller, S. H. H. Nielsen, M. Q. Fleisher, B. E. Anderson and L. H. Burckle. Wind-Driven Upwelling in the Southern Ocean and the Deglacial Rise in Atmospheric CO2

GPS-based ionospheric tomography is a well-known technique for imaging the total electron content (TEC) between GPS satellites and receivers. However, as an integral measurement of electron concentration, TEC typically encompasses both the ionosphere and plasmasphere, masking signatures from the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere due to the dominant ionosphere. Imaging these regions requires a technique that isolates TEC in the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere. Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System (MIDAS) employs tomography to image the electron distribution in the ionosphere. Its implementation for regions beyond is yet to be seen due to the different dynamics present above the ionosphere. This paper discusses the extension of MIDAS to image these altitudes using GPS phase-based TEC measurements and follows the work by Spencer and Mitchell (2011). Plasma is constrained to dipole field lines described by Euler potentials, resulting in a distribution symmetrical about the geomagnetic equator. A simulation of an empirical plasmaspheric model by Gallagher et al. (1988) is used to verify the technique by comparing reconstructions of the simulation with the empirical model. The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is used as GPS receiver locations. The verification is followed by a validation of the modified MIDAS algorithm, where the regions' TEC is reconstructed from COSMIC GPS phase measurements and qualitatively compared with previous studies using Jason-1 and COSMIC data. Results show that MIDAS can successfully image features/trends of the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere observed in other studies, with deviations in absolute TEC attributed to differences in data set properties and the resolution of the images.

By using International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model as a background ionosphere and applying the Kalman filter to update the state with observations, we develop an Ionosphere Data Assimilation Analysis System (IDAAS) to reconstruct a 3-dimensional ionosphere with the GPS slant TEC and ionosonde data in China. The preliminary results with GPS data collected over east-south Asia on June 30 2005 show that inversed slant TEC has very good correlation with the observations both for the GPS sites being and not being involved in reconstruction. The inversed NmF2 and vertical TEC both demonstrate great improvement of agreement with those observed from ionosondes and TOPEX satellite independently. Based on IDAAS, simulations are carried out to investigate the deviation relative to slant-to-vertical conversion (STV) TEC by using the slant TEC derived from Nequick model as a replacement of measurement data. It is shown that the relative deviation induced by slant-to-vertical conversion may be significant in some cases, and it varies from 0% to 40% when elevation decreasing from 90° to 15°, while relative deviation of IDAAS is much smaller and varies from -5% to 15% without elevation dependence. Comparing with the ';true TEC' map derived from the empirical model, there are big differences in STV TEC map, but no obvious discrepancy in IDAAS map. Generally, IDAAS TEC map is much closer to the 'true TEC' map than the 2-D TEC map does. It is suggested that 3-dimensional inversion techniques are necessary when using GPS observation with low elevation rays at equatorial anomaly region, where the high horizontal gradient of electron density could lead to a significant slant-to-vertical deviation by 2-dimensional inversion method.

In this work, the three-dimensional state of the ionosphere has been estimated by integrating the spherical Slepian harmonic function and Kalman filter. The spherical Slepian harmonic functions have been used to establish the observation equations because of their properties in local modeling. Spherical harmonics are poor choices to represent or analyze geophysical processes without perfect global coverage but the Slepian functions afford spatial and spectral selectivity. The Kalman filter has been utilized to perform the parameter estimation due to its suitable properties in processing the GPS measurements in the real-time mode. The proposed model has been applied to the real data obtained from the ground-based GPS observations across some portion of the IGS network in Europe. Results have been compared with the estimated TECs by the CODE, ESA, IGS centers and IRI-2012 model. The results indicated that the proposed model which takes advantage of the Slepian basis and Kalman filter is efficient and allows for the generation of the near-real-time regional TEC map.

The anomalous TEC (total electron content) variations as seismo-ionospheric earthquake signa-tures have been investigated for the cases of a) China (Eastern Sichuan) earthquake of May 12, 2008, M 7.9 (31.0° N; 103.4° E) and b) Haiti seismic event of Jan. 12, 2010, M 7.0 (18.46° N; 72.5° W). The anomalies look like strong local long-living TEC enhancements relative to the non-disturbed level linked to the near-epicenter area. They are followed by similar effects at the magnetically conjugated regions. The geomagnetic conditions are quiet for the considered periods, i.e. those anomalies are not caused by the solar or geomagnetic activity. To analyze those disturbances we have calculated differential TEC maps for a few days before the earthquakes using Ionospheric TEC Maps provided by the NASA in IONEX file format. The background TEC levels are calculated as a) running median for 3 days before and 7 days after the current calculation moment and as b) running median for 7-days before the calculation moment. Both seismic events show the very similar to each other pre-earthquake TEC anomalies mani-festations independently on the background level calculations: a) the enhancement area is of ˜10° in latitude, ˜40° in longitude for the Chinese earthquake and ˜15° in latitude and ˜25° in longitude for the Haiti earthquake; b) TEC deviation maximum reaches more than 60% in magnitude for the Chinese earthquake and than 40% for the Haiti case; c) the enhancements area existed from 06UT till 12UT May 9, 2008 for the Chinese earthquake and from Jan. 10, 22UT till Jan. 12, 08UT, 2010 for the Haiti one; d) the TEC enhancements were observed at the magnetically conjugated areas in both cases. Magnetic conjugation of the observed anomalies strongly evidences in favour of the hypothesis of the F2-region ionospheric plasma vertical drift under influence of the zonal electric field of seismic origin as the principle reason of the observed phenomena. The work was partially

Recently, investigation of the anomalies in the ionosphere before the earthquake has taken too much attention. The Total Electron Content (TEC) data has been used to monitor the changes in the ionosphere. Hence, researchers use the TEC changes before the strong earthquakes to monitor the anomalies in the ionosphere. In this study, the GPS-TEC variations, obtained from the GNSS stations in the vicinity of the earthquake preparation zone, was investigated. Nidra earthquake (M6.5), which was occurred on the north-west of Greece on November 17th, 2015 (38.755°N, 20.552°E), was selected for this study. First, the equation proposed by Dobrovolsky et al. (1979) was used to calculate the radius of the earthquake preparation zone. International GNSS Service (IGS) stations in the region were classified with respect to the radius of the earthquake preparation zone. The observation data of each station was obtained from the Crustal Dynamics Data and Information System (CDDIS) archive to estimate GPS-TEC variations between 16 October 2015 and 16 December 2015. Global Ionosphere Maps (GIM) products, obtained from the IGS, was used to check the robustness of the GPS-TEC variations. Possible anomalies were analyzed for each GNSS station by using the 15-day moving median method. In order to analyze these pre-earthquake ionospheric anomalies, we investigated three indices (Kp, F10.7 and Dst) related to the space weather conditions between 16 October 2015 and 16 December 2015. Solar and geomagnetic indices were obtained from The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Canadian Space Weather Forecast Centre (CSWFC), and the Data Analysis Center for Geomagnetism and Space Magnetism Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University (WDC). This study aims at investigating the possible effects of the earthquake on the TEC variations.

Using the Total Electron Content (TEC) data from the Global Navigation Service System (GNSS) site in Jeju, operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (geographic location: 33.3° N, 126.5° E; geomagnetic location: 23.6° N) for 2002-2014 in Korea, the results of the statistical analysis of positive and negative ionospheric storms are presented for the first time. In this paper, ionospheric storms are defined as turbulences that exceed 50% of the percentage differential Global Positioning System (GPS) TEC ratio (ΔTEC) with monthly median GPS TEC. During the period of observations, the total number of positive ionospheric storms (ΔTEC > 50%) was 170, which is greater than five times the number of negative ionospheric storms (ΔTEC < - 50%) of 33. The numbers of ionospheric storms recorded during solar cycles 23 and 24 were 134 and 69, respectively. Both positive and negative ionospheric storms showed yearly variation with solar activity during solar cycle 23, but during solar cycle 24, the occurrence of negative ionospheric storms did not show any particular trend with solar activity. This result indicates that the ionosphere is actively perturbed during solar cycle 23, whereas it is relatively quiet during solar cycle 24. The monthly variations of the ionospheric storms were not very clear although there seems to be stronger occurrence during solstice than during equinox. We also investigated the variations of GPS positioning accuracy caused by ionospheric storms during November 7-10, 2004. During this storm period, the GPS positioning accuracies from a single frequency receiver are 3.26 m and 2.97 m on November 8 and 10, respectively, which is much worse than the quiet conditions on November 7 and 9 with the accuracy of 1.54 m and 1.69 m, respectively

The magnetosphere of the Earth is made up of both magnetic fields and plasma. In this layer, plasma waves propagate as Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) waves having mHz scale frequencies. ULF waves are produced due to complicated solar-geomagnetic interactions. In the literature, these ULF waves are defined as pulsations. The geomagnetic pulsations are classified into main two groups as continuous pulsations (Pc) and irregular pulsations (Pi). These pulsations can be determined by ionospheric parameters due to the complex lithosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling processes. Total Electron Content (TEC) is one of the most important parameters for investigating the variability of ionosphere. Global Positioning System (GPS) provides a cost-effective means for estimating TEC from GPS satellite orbital height of 20,000 km to the ground based receivers. Therefore, the time series of GPS-TEC inherently contains the above mentioned ULF waves. In this study, time series analysis of GPS-TEC is carried out by applying periodogram method to the mid-latitude annual TEC data. After the analysis of GPS-TEC data obtained for GPS stations located in Central Europe and Turkey for 2011, it is observed that some of the fundamental frequencies that are indicators of Pc waves, diurnal and semi-diurnal periodicity and earth-free oscillations can be identified. These results will be used in determination of low frequency trend structure of magnetosphere and ionosphere. Further investigation of remaining relatively low magnitude frequencies, all Pi and Pc can be identified by using time and frequency domain techniques such as wavelet analysis. This study is supported by the joint TUBITAK 115E915 and joint TUBITAK114E092 and AS CR 14/001 projects.

The relative contributions of the composition disturbances and the disturbance electric fields in the redistribution of ionospheric plasma is investigated in detail by taking the case of a long-duration positive ionospheric storm that occurred during 18-21 February 2014. GPS total electron content (TEC) data from the Indian Antarctic station, Bharti (69.4°S, 76.2°E geographic), the northern midlatitude station Hanle (32.8°N, 78.9°E geographic), northern low-latitude station lying in the vicinity of the anomaly crest, Ahmedabad (23.04°N, 72.54°E geographic, dip latitude 17°N), and the geomagnetic equatorial station, Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E geographic, dip latitude 0.01°S) are used in the study. These are the first simultaneous observations of TEC from Bharti and Hanle during a geomagnetic storm. The impact of the intense geomagnetic storm (Dst˜-130 nT) on the southern hemisphere high-latitude station was a drastic reduction in the TEC (negative ionospheric storm) starting from around 0330 Indian standard time (IST) on 19 February which continued till 21 February, the maximum reduction in TEC at Bharti being ˜35 TEC units on 19 February. In the northern hemisphere midlatitude and equatorial stations, a positive ionospheric storm started on 19 February at around 0900 IST and lasted for 3 days. The maximum enhancement in TEC at Hanle was about ˜25 TECU on 19 February while over Trivandrum it was ˜10 TECU. This long-duration positive ionospheric storm provided an opportunity to assess the relative contributions of disturbance electric fields and composition changes latitudinally. The results indicate that the negative ionospheric storm over Bharti and the positive ionospheric storm over Hanle are the effect of the changes in the global wind system and the storm-induced composition changes. At the equatorial latitudes, the positive ionospheric storm was due to the interplay of prompt penetration electric field and disturbance dynamo electric field.

The total electron content (TEC) is a key parameter not only for space radio communication but also for addressing the fundamental problems of the ionosphere physics and near Earth space. Currently, the main sources of information on the TEC in the global scale are GNSS signals measurements. The spatial-temporal behavior of the ionosphere can be most effectively analyzed using TEC maps. To date, global IGS global ionospheric maps with a resolution of 2.5 degree in latitude and 5 in longitude and a time resolution of 2 h are most widely used. To study the detailed structure of the ionospheric gradients and rapid process as well as for precise positioning task it is necessary to use more precise regional TEC maps. The Regional TEC maps are currently constructed by different research groups for different regions: USA, Europe, Japan etc. The West Department of IZMIRAN research group is a one in Russia who works on the task of regional ionosphere mapping since 2000. It was developed the methodology for obtaining information on the spatial TEC distribution, TEC maps of the ionosphere on the basis of the algorithm for multi-station processing of GNSS observations. Using a set of algorithms and programs, regional TEC maps with a spatial resolution of 1° and a time resolution up to 15 min can be produced. Here is developed the approach to establish the regular online internet service for regional ionosphere mapping of the Western Russia and Eastern Europe. Nowadays the development of GLONASS navigation system is completely finished and it consists of a constellation of more than 24 satellites. It is good perspective for investigations of the ionosphere structure and dynamics on the base of the simultaneous observations of GPS and GLONASS systems. The GLONASS satellites have the inclination about 64 degrees as against GPS satellites with 56. So the GLONASS provides opportunity to study the high latitude ionosphere. The different scale electron density irregularities

Turkey is a country located in Middle Latitude zone and in which tectonic activity is intensive. Lastly, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5Mw occurred at Aegean Sea offshore on date 24 May 2014 at 12:25 UTC and it lasted approximately 40 s. The said earthquake was felt also in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria in addition to Turkey. In recent years seismic origin ionospheric anomaly detection studies have been done with TEC (Total Electron Contents) generated from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals and the findings obtained have been revealed. In this study, TEC and positional variations have been examined seperately regarding the earthquake which occurred in the Aegean Sea. Then The correlation of the said ionospheric variation with the positional variation has been investigated. For this purpose, total fifteen stations have been used among which the data of four numbers of CORS-TR stations in the seismic zone (AYVL, CANA, IPSA, YENC) and IGS and EUREF stations are used. The ionospheric and positional variations of AYVL, CANA, IPSA and YENC stations have been examined by Bernese 5.0v software. When the (PPP-TEC) values produced as result of the analysis are examined, it has been understood that in the four stations located in Turkey, three days before the earthquake at 08:00 and 10:00 UTC, the TEC values were approximately 4 TECU above the upper limit TEC value. Still in the same stations, one day before the earthquake at 06:00, 08:00 and 10:00 UTC, it is being shown that the TEC values were approximately 5 TECU below the lower limit TEC value. On the other hand, the GIM-TEC values published by the CODE center have been examined. Still in all stations, it has been observed that three days before the earthquake the TEC values in the time portions of 08:00 and 10:00 UTC were approximately 2 TECU above, one day before the earthquake at 06:00, 08:00 and 10:00 UTC, the TEC values were approximately 4 TECU below the lower limit TEC value. Again, by using the same

The electron density integral along the paths between a GPS satellite and receiver is known as Total Electron Content (TEC), and this parameter is used in studying the ionosphere behaviors. TEC can be obtained by means of many methods. A space-based radio navigation system, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), offers good opportunities for studying the ionosphere. The TEC is calculated from the group path delay and phase advance in GPS satellite signals along the slant paths connecting GPS receivers and satellites at 22,000 km. Locally, a dual frequency GPS receiver was installed in Helwan, Egypt (29.86°N, 31.32°E) in November 2009. Here, GPS data were analyzed to establish a daily observation of Vertical TEC in a region located near to the northern crest of the ionospheric equatorial anomaly. During a moderate geomagnetic storm, observed on 02-05 May 2010, a number of ionospheric/magnetic phenomena were observed. Also, observations for Pc5/Pi2 pulsations were recorded during the geomagnetic storm phases. These geomagnetic observations are taken from MAGDAS-magnetometer station, located at Aswan (23.59°N, 32.51°E). More than 10 TECU increase in the ionospheric TEC values were recorded during the daytime of 02 May, followed by a large reduction during 03 May, reference to the pre-storm conditions. This confirms the enhancement in the geomagnetic H-component peak during the storm's initial phase and its reduction during the main phase.

The current emphasis is on out-of-core thermionic conversion (TEC). The additional degrees of freedom offer new potentialities, but high-temperature material effects determine the level and lifetime of TEC performance: New electrodes not only raise power outputs but also maintain them regardless of emitter-vapor deposition on collectors. In addition, effective electrodes serve compatibly with hot-shell alloys. Space TEC withstands external and internal high-temperature vaporization problems, and terrestrial TEC tolerates hot corrosive atmospheres outside and near-vacuum inside. Finally, reduction of losses between converter electrodes is essential even though rather demanding geometries appear to be required for some modes of enhanced operation.

It is known that GPS radio signals passing through the ionosphere suffer varying degrees of rapid variations of their amplitude and phase - signal scintillations. The scintillations are caused by the presence of wide range of scale size irregularities in the ionosphere. It is very important to estimate scintillation and phase fluctuation effects on GNSS navigation system (GPS/GLONASS) performance and consequently on the precession of the obtained position. Effects of the ionospheric irregularities on the GPS signals can be evaluated by measurements of the differential phase time rate of dual frequency GPS signals. GPS observations carried out at the Arctic IGS (International GNSS Service) stations were used to study the development of TEC fluctuations in the high latitude ionosphere. Standard GPS measurements with 30s sampling rate allow the detection of middle- and large-scale ionospheric irregularities. For detection of ionospheric fluctuations the rate of TEC (ROT, in the unit of TECU/min) at 1 min interval was used. The temporal occurrence of TEC fluctuations is clearly observed in time variations in the dual frequency carrier phase along satellite passes. As a measure of the fluctuation activity level the Rate of TEC Index (ROTI) based on standard deviation of ROT was also used. ROTI was estimated in 10-minute interval. These techniques and IGS data were used to study the occurrence of TEC fluctuations at the northern latitude ionosphere for selected geomagnetic storms occurred at the end of 23rd and beginning of new 24th solar cycles. Results demonstrate that fluctuation activity of GPS signals in the high latitude ionosphere is depended on geomagnetic conditions. Intensity of fluctuations essentially increases during geomagnetic storms. The strongest TEC fluctuations occurred as short time rate of TEC enhancements of a factor of 2-5 relative to the quiet time. During geomagnetic disturbed conditions strong phase fluctuations can register at latitudes low

The VHF radar and HF Doppler sounder located at the subtropical and lowlatitudeobserving site of Taiwan has been used to make a simultaneous observation for atmospheric parameters from the troposphere, to the middle atmosphere, and then to the thermosphere during the time period of the weak convective motions of cold front in winter time. For observations at mesospheric heights, time dependent wind velocities with three-dimensional profiles are detected in the backscattered power, radial velocities and Doppler spectral width. For observations at thermospheric heights, time-dependent phase path change of high frequency radio wave reflected from ionospheric heights is used to measure Doppler frequency variation of gravity wave parameters. The density perturbations caused by the propagation of the gravity waves due to the weak convective motions in winter time were calculated from the VHF radar and HF Doppler sounder observations simultaneously. These short-term middle atmospheric and thermospheric density changes are a key element needed for space vehicle design purposes. Projects such as the Space Shuttle, Shuttle II, Tethered Satellite, Hubble Space Telescope, Aerobraking Orbital Transfer Vehicle, and Aeroassisted Flight Experiment will benefit from such studies.

Recently, there are growing interests in studying the seismo-ionospheric disturbance prior to earthquakes, mainly including the anomalies in the electric field, magnetic field and plasma parameters. However, there are still some controversies over this topic, mainly because of strong day-to-day variability of the ionosphere itself. It is hard to determine whether the different forms of ionospheric disturbances are associated with earthquakes or not. Using data of Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONC) and IGS (International GNSS Service), we attempt to give a statistical investigation about the total electron content (TEC) perturbation before 30 Mw6.0+ earthquakes during January 2000 to December 2010 in China. To determine the abnormal TEC signals, a quartile-based process is performed. At each time point we calculated the median M using the TEC values at the same local time for the preceding 15 days. In addition, we calculated the maps of differential TEC from global ionosphere maps (GIM) in the above period. It is shown that TEC anomalies were detected before 20 earthquakes, nearly 67%. The anomalies represent positive before most events and occurred mostly within 2-6 days before the shocks, significantly during the afternoon period, 1200-2000LT. Part of perturbations appeared more than one time. Moreover, the affected area of TEC is not coincide with the vertical projection of the epicenter but shifts equatorward and is controlled by equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest. On the other hand, we analyzed variations of TEC over southwest China during a period of low solar and geomagnetic activity in April-October 2008, based on the data of CMONC. During that time, six large earthquakes with magnitude M≧6.0 occurred around the southwest region of China. The method to detect abnormal TEC signals is same with above statistical study. Known that the decisive role in the ionosphere state is performed by space weather effects, we compared the TEC

To reduce the effect of strong geomagnetic activities, the TEC data of 2 days after Dst index exceed -60 nT were excluded in previous statistical studies of earthquake related TEC anomalies. Actually, the influences of a magnetic storm on TEC variations depend on the intensity and onset time of the storm. In this study, to clarify such dependences, we applied classification analysis to the storm data (Dst) and discussed the response of TEC variation to each type of storm. We picked out all the 294 geomagnetic storms during 1998-2013, and classified them into 3 types in magnitude and 4 types in onset time (local time). We checked the TEC data from 2 days before till 5 days after the onset of each geomagnetic storm. A bootstrap method is used to calculate the average variation of the TEC for each type of storm. The average variation can be regarded as an average response of TEC to the related type of storm. If the average value of TEC exceeds the mean±2σ threshold, we consider it being affected by the storm. By this mean, we could find the accurate period affected by each type of storm. We employed the results obtained above to remove the TEC data associated with geomagnetic storms. Next we performed statistical analysis of the TEC anomalies possibly associated with large earthquakes in Japan area during 1998/05-2013/12. There are statistical significance of TEC anomalies 1-5 days before and 16-20 days after M>=6.0 earthquakes. The significance of pre-earthquake anomalies is consistent with the results reported by Kon et al., 2011. The significance of 16-20 days after earthquakes may be due to aftershock effects of the Tohoku earthquake. To remove the influences of any per- and after- shock effects, we proposed a new method which considers 'isolate EQs' only. 'Isolate EQs' are earthquakes which is unique in a 61 days window centered by the day of the EQ. The result shows there are clear high possibilities of TEC anomalies 1-5 days prior to M>=6 earthquakes. Finally

This paper presents a validation and accuracy assessment of the total electron content (TEC) from US-TEC, a new product presented by the Space Environment Center over the contiguous United States (CONUS). US-TEC is a real-time operational implementation of the MAGIC code and provides TEC maps every 15 min and the line-of-sight electron content between any point within the CONUS and all GPS satellites in view. Validation of TEC is difficult since there are no absolute or true values of TEC. All methods of obtaining TEC, for instance, from GPS, ocean surface monitors (TOPEX), and lightning detectors (FORTE), have challenges that limit their accuracy. GPS data have interfrequency biases; TOPEX also has biases, and data are collected only over the oceans; and FORTE can eliminate biases, but because of the lower operating frequency, the signals suffer greater bending on the rays. Because of the difficulty in obtaining an absolute unbiased TEC measurement, a "differential" accuracy estimate has been performed. The method relies on the fact that uninterrupted GPS data along a particular receiver-satellite link with no cycle slips are very precise. The phase difference (scaled to TEC units) from one epoch to the next can be determined with an accuracy of less than 0.01 TEC units. This fact can be utilized to estimate the uncertainty in the US-TEC vertical and slant path maps. By integrating through US-TEC inversion maps at two different times, the difference in the slant TEC can be compared with the direct phase difference in the original RINEX data file for nine receivers not used in the US-TEC calculations. The results of this study, for the period of April-September 2004, showed an average root mean square error of 2.4 TEC units, which is equivalent to less than 40 cm of signal delay at the GPS L1 frequency. The accuracy estimates from this "differential" method are similar to the results from a companion paper utilizing an "absolute" validation method by comparing with

A series of four geomagnetic storms (the minimum SYM-H~-148 nT) occurred during the March 6-17, 2012 in the ascending phase of the solar cycle 24. This interval was selected by CAWSES II for its campaign. The GPS total electron content (TEC) database and JPL's Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) were used to study vertical TEC (VTEC) for different local times and latitude ranges. The largest response to geomagnetic activity is shown in increases of the low-latitude dayside VTEC. Several GPS sites feature post-afternoon VTEC “bite-outs”. During Sudden Impulse (SI+) event on March 8th a peak daytime VTEC restores to about quiet-time values. It is shown that the TIMED/SABER zonal flux of nitric oxide (NO) infrared cooling radiation correlates well with auroral heating. A factor of ~5 cooling increase is noted in some storms. The cooling radiation intensifies in the auroral zone and spreads towards the equator. Effects of the storm appear at lower latitudes ~18.6 h later. The column density ratio Σ[O/N2] is analyzed based on TIMED/GUVI measurements. Both increases (at lowlatitudes) and decreases (from auroral to middle latitudes) in the ratio occurs during the geomagnetic storms. We suggest that the column density ratio could be enhanced at low to middle latitudes on the dayside partially due to the superfountain effect (atomic oxygen uplift due to ion-neutral drag). It is suggested that decreases in the Σ[O/N2] ratio at high to middle-latitudes may be caused by high thermospheric temperatures. During SI+s, there is an increase in Σ[O/N2] ratio at auroral latitudes.

The definite identification of the characteristics of the geomagnetic response to Solar Wind (SW) pressure changes represents an interesting element of the magnetospheric dynamics that is also important in the Space Weather context. In the present analysis, we discriminate between magnetospheric (DL) and ionospheric (DP) contributions in the ground response comparing SEGMA array (South European Geomagnetic Array) and geostationary observations with the predictions of the Tsyganenko model for the different magnetospheric current systems (from the magnetopause, ring current, tail current, etc.) for different case events. To obtain the Ionospheric contribution we subtracted the field aligned currents (FAC) MFACE model (Model of FACs through Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis, He et al., [2012]) from the residual DP field at each ground station. Meaningful changes in the ionospheric currents reflect into meaningful variation of the total electron content in the ionosphere. Thus, to validate our approach in determining the ionospheric currents, we analyse calibrated TEC and TEC spatial gradients data over the Italian sites of the SEGMA array derived with a network of GNSS receivers, termed RING (Rete Integrata Nazionale GPS). RING is a dense network of about 180 stations covering the Italian territory, by means of which it is possible to obtain maps of TEC derived products with very fine spatial resolution (0.1° x0.1° , lat x long). The aim of this validation is to catch the correspondences between ionospheric current variations and the morphology and dynamics of the TEC in the mid latitude ionosphere on selected case events.

The aim of the present study was to observe the efficacy of neoadjuvant trastuzumab combined with docetaxel and carboplatin (TCH), and docetaxel, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (TEC) chemotherapy in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-overexpressing breast cancer. The total cohort of 64 cases of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer patients was divided into two groups according to their treatment preferences: The TCH group, consisting of 39 patients, and the TEC group, consisting of 25 patients. The neoadjuvant chemotherapy was continued for six cycles prior to comparison of the treatment efficacy. The TCG and TEC groups exhibited an overall response rate of 94.9 and 72.0% (37/39 and 18/25 cases; P<0.05), respectively, and a pathological complete response (pCR; defined as the presence of no invasive or in situ residual tumors in the breast) rate of 69.2 and 32.0% (27/39 and 8/25 cases; P<0.05), respectively. Furthermore, no significant differences were identified between the two groups of patients in terms of adverse reactions, such as cardiac dysfunction, bone marrow suppression and liver function impairment. In the present study, the treatment of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer patients with TCH neoadjuvant chemotherapy demonstrated more favorable efficacy and a higher pCR rate when compared with the TEC-treated group. PMID:25789069

Statistical analysis of the ionosphere, specifically the Total Electron Content (TEC), may reveal important information about its temporal and spatial characteristics. One of the core metrics that express the statistical properties of a stochastic process is its Probability Density Function (pdf). Furthermore, statistical parameters such as mean, variance and kurtosis, which can be derived from the pdf, may provide information about the spatial uniformity or clustering of the electron content. For example, the variance differentiates between a quiet ionosphere and a disturbed one, whereas kurtosis differentiates between a geomagnetic storm and an earthquake. Therefore, valuable information about the state of the ionosphere (and the natural phenomena that cause the disturbance) can be obtained by looking at the statistical parameters. In the literature, there are publications which try to fit the histogram of TEC estimates to some well-known pdf.s such as Gaussian, Exponential, etc. However, constraining a histogram to fit to a function with a fixed shape will increase estimation error, and all the information extracted from such pdf will continue to contain this error. In such techniques, it is highly likely to observe some artificial characteristics in the estimated pdf which is not present in the original data. In the present study, we use the Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) technique to estimate the pdf of the TEC. KDE is a non-parametric approach which does not impose a specific form on the TEC. As a result, better pdf estimates that almost perfectly fit to the observedTEC values can be obtained as compared to the techniques mentioned above. KDE is particularly good at representing the tail probabilities, and outliers. We also calculate the mean, variance and kurtosis of the measured TEC values. The technique is applied to the ionosphere over Turkey where the TEC values are estimated from the GNSS measurement from the TNPGN-Active (Turkish National Permanent

A web front-end has been recently developed and released to allow retrieving and plotting ionospheric parameters computed by the latest version of the model, NeQuick 2. NeQuick is a quick-run ionospheric electron density model particularly designed for trans-ionospheric propagation applications. It has been developed at the Aeronomy and Radiopropagation Laboratory (now T/ICT4D Laboratory) of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) - Trieste, Italy with the collaboration of the Institute for Geophysics, Astrophysics and Meteorology (IGAM) of the University of Graz, Austria. To describe the electron density of the ionosphere up to the peak of the F2 layer, NeQuick uses a profile formulation which includes five semi-Epstein layers with modelled thickness parameters. Through a simple web interface users can exploit all the model features including the possibility of computing the electron density and visualizing the corresponding Total Electron Content (TEC) along any ground-to-satellite straight line ray-path. Indeed, the TEC is the ionospheric parameter retrieved from the GPS measurements. It complements the experimental data obtained with diverse kinds of sensors and can be considered a major source of ionospheric information. Since the TEC is not a direct measurement, a "de-biasing" procedure or calibration has to be applied to obtain the relevant values from the raw GPS observables. Using the observation and navigation RINEX files corresponding to a single receiver as input data, the web application allows the user to compute the slant and/or vertical TEC following the concept of the "arc-by-arc" offsets estimation. The combined use of both tools, freely available from the T/ICT4D Web site, will allow the comparison of experimentally derived slant and vertical TEC with modelled values. An online demonstration of the capabilities of the mentioned web services will be illustrated.

This Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS) guide provides materials for a farm business manager course. It is designed to be used with any teaching methods the instructor may choose. As an extension of a V-TECS catalog, the guide is based on the duties, tasks, performance objectives, and performance guides compiled in the…

The ionospheric storm evolution process was monitored during the January 10, 1997 magnetic cloud event, through measurements of the inonospheric total electron content (TEC) from 150 GPS stations. The first significant response of the inonospheric TEC to the geomagnetic storm was at 0300 UT as an auroral/subauroral enhancement around the Alaskan evening sector.

The effectiveness of a Training Extension Course (TEC) as a means of increasing the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) proficiency of Army personnel was evaluated. TEC was implemented by the Combat Arms Training Board using sound/slide as the basic media for 56 lessons. Training material relevant to MOS 11B40, Light Weapons Infantryman, was…

StarTEC (Staff, Teacher, and Restructured Technology Education Consortium) was a 3-year technology catalyst program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and continued for a third year to complete its activities. The goal of StarTEC was to ensure that all teachers prepared by partners in the Consortium would meet the new California standard…

Anomaly detection in time series of different earthquake precursors is an essential introduction to create an early warning system with an allowable uncertainty. Since these time series are more often non linear, complex and massive, therefore the applied predictor method should be able to detect the discord patterns from a large data in a short time. This study acknowledges Firefly Algorithm (FA) as a simple and robust predictor to detect the TEC (Total Electron Content) seismo-ionospheric anomalies around the time of the some powerful earthquakes including Chile (27 February 2010), Varzeghan (11 August 2012) and Saravan (16 April 2013). Outstanding anomalies were observed 7 and 5 days before the Chile and Varzeghan earthquakes, respectively and also 3 and 8 days prior to the Saravan earthquake.

It was established by earlier studies of pre-earthquake ionospheric variations that for every specific site these variations manifest definite stability in their temporal behavior within the time interval few days before the seismic shock. This self-similarity (characteristic to phenomena registered for processes observed close to critical point of the system) permits us to consider these variations as a good candidate to short-term precursor. Physical mechanism of GPS TEC variations before earthquakes is developed within the framework of Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) model. Taking into account the different tectonic structure and different source mechanisms of earthquakes in different regions of the globe, every site has its individual behavior in pre-earthquake activity what creates individual "imprint" on the ionosphere behavior at every given point. Just this so called "mask" of the ionosphere variability before earthquake in the given point creates opportunity to detect anomalous behavior of electron concentration in ionosphere basing not only on statistical processing procedure but applying the pattern recognition technique what facilitates the automatic recognition of short-term ionospheric precursors of earthquakes. Such kind of precursor mask was created using the GPS TEC variation around the time of 9 earthquakes with magnitude from M6.0 till M6.9 which took place in Greece within the time interval 2006-2011. The major anomaly revealed in the relative deviation of the vertical TEC was the positive anomaly appearing at ~04PM UT one day before the seismic shock and lasting nearly 12 hours till ~04AM UT. To validate this approach it was decided to check the mask in real-time monitoring of earthquakes in Greece starting from the 1 of December 2012 for the earthquakes with magnitude more than 4.5. During this period (till 9 of January 2013) 4 cases of seismic shocks were registered, including the largest one M5.7 on 8 of January. For all of

Ionosphere is a very important part of Space Weather. Modeling and monitoring of ionospheric variability is a major part of satellite communication, navigation and positioning systems. Total Electron Content (TEC), which is defined as the line integral of the electron density along a ray path, is one of the parameters to investigate the ionospheric variability. Dual-frequency GPS receivers, with their world wide availability and efficiency in TEC estimation, have become a major source of global and regional TEC modeling. When Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) of International GPS Service (IGS) centers (http://iono.jpl.nasa.gov/gim.html) are investigated, it can be observed that regional ionosphere along the midlatitude regions can be modeled as a constant, linear or a quadratic surface. Globally, especially around the magnetic equator, the TEC surfaces resemble twisted and dispersed single centered or double centered Gaussian functions. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) proved itself as a fast converging and an effective optimization tool in various diverse fields. Yet, in order to apply this optimization technique into TEC modeling, the method has to be modified for higher efficiency and accuracy in extraction of geophysical parameters such as model parameters of TEC surfaces. In this study, a modified PSO (mPSO) method is applied to regional and global synthetic TEC surfaces. The synthetic surfaces that represent the trend and small scale variability of various ionospheric states are necessary to compare the performance of mPSO over number of iterations, accuracy in parameter estimation and overall surface reconstruction. The Cramer-Rao bounds for each surface type and model are also investigated and performance of mPSO are tested with respect to these bounds. For global models, the sample points that are used in optimization are obtained using IGS receiver network. For regional TEC models, regional networks such as Turkish National Permanent GPS Network (TNPGN

We study solar wind-ionosphere coupling through the late declining phase/solar minimum and geomagnetic minimum phases during the last solar cycle (SC23) - 2008 and 2009. This interval was characterized by sequences of high-speed solar wind streams (HSSs). The concomitant geomagnetic response was moderate geomagnetic storms and high-intensity, long-duration continuous auroral activity (HILDCAA) events. The JPL Global Ionospheric Map (GIM) software and the GPS total electron content (TEC) database were used to calculate the vertical TEC (VTEC) and estimate daily averaged values in separate latitude and local time ranges. Our results show distinct low- and mid-latitude VTEC responses to HSSs during this interval, with the low-latitude daytime daily averaged values increasing by up to 33 TECU (annual average of ~20 TECU) near local noon (12:00 to 14:00 LT) in 2008. In 2009 during the minimum geomagnetic activity (MGA) interval, the response to HSSs was a maximum of ~30 TECU increases with a slightly lower average value than in 2008. There was a weak nighttime ionospheric response to the HSSs. A well-studied solar cycle declining phase interval, 10-22 October 2003, was analyzed for comparative purposes, with daytime low-latitude VTEC peak values of up to ~58 TECU (event average of ~55 TECU). The ionospheric VTEC changes during 2008-2009 were similar but ~60% less intense on average. There is an evidence of correlations of filtered daily averaged VTEC data with Ap index and solar wind speed. We use the infrared NO and CO2 emission data obtained with SABER on TIMED as a proxy for the radiation balance of the thermosphere. It is shown that infrared emissions increase during HSS events possibly due to increased energy input into the auroral region associated with HILDCAAs. The 2008-2009 HSS intervals were ~85% less intense than the 2003 early declining phase event, with annual averages of daily infrared NO emission power of ~ 3.3 × 1010 W and 2.7 × 1010 W in 2008 and 2009

We present a summary of the statistical characteristics of echoes from ionospheric (E- and F-region) field-aligned irregularities obtained with the Piura VHF radar. This radar is located at ~ 7.0° dip latitude, just outside the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) region. Our results are based on (1) intermittent observations made between 1991 and 1999 just few days a year, and (2) continuous observations made between January 2000 and June 2001. During most of the intermittent observations, simultaneous measurements of EEJ and equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities were performed with the Jicamarca VHF radar. From the continuous measurements, we have obtained the diurnal and seasonal characteristics of a variety of parameters (percentage of occurrence, signal-to-noise ratio and/or Doppler velocities) from the lower and upper E-region irregularities and also from F-region irregularities over Piura. For example, we have found that (1) the E-region echoes are stronger and occur more frequently during local summer (i.e. between December and March); (2) between May and June, the E-region echoes are weaker and occur less frequently; moreover, during these months, a semidiurnal wave with large amplitudes is observed in the meridional wind (> 100 ms- 1); (3) there is vertical wavelength of about 20 km in the Doppler velocity, particularly after midnight; (4) the lower (upper) E-region Doppler velocities are influenced mainly by meridional winds (equatorial F-region vertical drifts). In addition, we have observed that the seasonal and daily occurrences of Piura F-region irregularities are similar to the occurrence of topside ESF irregularities over Jicamarca. The likelihood of occurrence of F-region irregularities over Piura and, therefore, topside ESF over Jicamarca is greater when there are no E-region irregularities over Piura. On the other hand, there is more probability of observing bottomtype/bottomside ESF irregularities over Jicamarca when E-region irregularities are

In this paper, we present seasonal variation of E region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs) observed using the Gadanki radar and compare them with the seasonal variation of Es observed from a nearby location SHAR. During daytime, FAIs occur maximum in summer and throughout the day, as compared to other seasons. During nighttime, FAIs occur equally in both summer and winter, and relatively less in equinoxes. Seasonal variations of Es (i.e. ftEs and fbEs) show that the daytime activity is maximum in summer and the nighttime activity is maximum in equinoxes. No relation is found between FAIs occurrence/SNR and ftEs/fbEs. FAIs occurrence, however, is found to be related well with (ftEs-fbEs). This aspect is discussed in the light of the present understanding of the mid-latitude Es-FAIs relationship. The seasonal variations of FAIs observed at Gadanki are compared in detail with those of Piura, which show a significant difference in the daytime observations. The observed difference has been discussed considering the factors governing the generation of FAIs.

In this paper, a regional total electron content (TEC) mapping technique over China and adjacent areas (70°E-140°E and 15°N-55°N) is developed on the basis of a Kalman filter data assimilation scheme driven by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) data from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China and International GNSS Service. The regional TEC maps can be generated accordingly with the spatial and temporal resolution being 1°×1° and 5 min, respectively. The accuracy and quality of the TEC mapping technique have been validated through the comparison with GNSS observations, the International Reference Ionosphere model values, the global ionosphere maps from Center for Orbit Determination of Europe, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Automated Processing of GPS TEC data from Madrigal database. The verification results indicate that great systematic improvements can be obtained when data are assimilated into the background model, which demonstrates the effectiveness of this technique in providing accurate regional specification of the ionospheric TEC over China and adjacent areas.

The main generation mechanisms for the Earth's LowLatitude Boundary Layer (LLBL) are considered to be magnetic reconnection, viscous interactions such as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and associated plasma mixing and diffusion. We have performed a statistical study of the Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) fluctuation power at the Pc4-Pc5 range using ≈6 years of THEMIS measurements of the plasma velocity and magnetic field. The results reveal a clear dawn-dusk asymmetry showing that the fluctuation power is typically more enhanced in the vicinity of the magnetopause downstream of the quasi-parallel shock. The statistical study of the Vx-component of the plasma velocity indicates that the LLBL is also thicker on the dawn-sector. These results may suggest that the physical mechanisms that provide power in the Pc4-Pc5 range are more effective on the dawn-sector and provide a means for a more effective LLBL generation.

Month-to-month changes in the statistical characteristics of the ionospheric E layer peak electron density NmE at medium and low geomagnetic latitudes under daytime geomagnetically quiet conditions are investigated. Critical frequencies of the ionospheric E layer measured by the middle latitude ionosonde Boulder and lowlatitude ionosondes Huancayo and Jicamarca at low solar activity from 1957 to 2015 have been used in the conducted statistical analysis. The mathematical expectation of NmE, standard deviation of NmE from the expectation of NmE, and NmE variation coefficient have been calculated for each month of the year. The months of the formation of extrema of these statistical parameters of NmE were found.

The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) system underwent a crucial upgrade in early 2009 to include a climatological calibration algorithm (CCA) to its realtime product 3B42RT, and this algorithm will continue to be applied in the future Global Precipitation Measurement era constellation precipitation products. In this study, efforts are focused on the comparison and validation of the Version 6 3B42RT estimates before and after the climatological calibration is applied. The evaluation is accomplished using independent rain gauge networks located within the high-latitude Laohahe basin and the low-latitude Mishui basin, both in China. The analyses indicate the CCA can effectively reduce the systematic errors over the low-latitude Mishui basin but misrepresent the intensity distribution pattern of medium-high rain rates. This behavior could adversely affect TMPA's hydrological applications, especially for extreme events (e.g., floods and landslides). Results also show that the CCA tends to perform slightly worse, in particular, during summer and winter, over the high-latitude Laohahe basin. This is possibly due to the simplified calibration-processing scheme in the CCA that directly applies the climatological calibrators developed within 40 degrees latitude to the latitude belts of 40 degrees N-50 degrees N. Caution should therefore be exercised when using the calibrated 3B42RT for heavy rainfall-related flood forecasting (or landslide warning) over high-latitude regions, as the employment of the smooth-fill scheme in the CCA bias correction could homogenize the varying rainstorm characteristics. Finally, this study highlights that accurate detection and estimation of snow at high latitudes is still a challenging task for the future development of satellite precipitation retrievals.

The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) system underwent a crucial upgrade in early 2009 to include a climatological calibration algorithm (CCA) to its real-time product 3B42RT, and this algorithm will continue to be applied in the future Global Precipitation Measurement era constellation precipitation products. In this study, efforts are focused on the comparison and validation of the Version 6 3B42RT estimates before and after the climatological calibration is applied. The evaluation is accomplished using independent rain gauge networks located within the high-latitude Laohahe basin and the low-latitude Mishui basin, both in China. The analyses indicate the CCA can effectively reduce the systematic errors over the low-latitude Mishui basin but misrepresent the intensity distribution pattern of medium-high rain rates. This behavior could adversely affect TMPA's hydrological applications, especially for extreme events (e.g., floods and landslides). Results also show that the CCA tends to perform slightly worse, in particular, during summer and winter, over the high-latitude Laohahe basin. This is possibly due to the simplified calibration-processing scheme in the CCA that directly applies the climatological calibrators developed within 40° latitude to the latitude belts of 40°N-50°N. Caution should therefore be exercised when using the calibrated 3B42RT for heavy rainfall-related flood forecasting (or landslide warning) over high-latitude regions, as the employment of the smooth-fill scheme in the CCA bias correction could homogenize the varying rainstorm characteristics. Finally, this study highlights that accurate detection and estimation of snow at high latitudes is still a challenging task for the future development of satellite precipitation retrievals.

The six species and three subspecies in the genus Chimarrogale (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) are commonly referred to as Asiatic water shrews. The Chimarrogale are the most widely distributed group of Nectogaline shrews, extending throughout the Oriental region and Japan. Because of the limited numbers of specimens available for study, the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographical history of this genus have not been comprehensively discussed. We used mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences to estimate phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among four Chimarrogale species, including all three subspecies of Chimarrogale himalayica. We also conducted a species delimitation analysis and tested two alternative migration scenarios in Asia through species distribution modeling and a reconstruction of the ancestral distribution. Here, we present the first proposed hypothesis regarding the Asiatic water shrew phylogeny and reveal ten putative species within the four recognized species. Distinct phylogenetic statuses of Chimarrogale phaeura, Chimarrogale platycephala, and Chimarrogale styani were confirmed. Chimarrogale himalayica was strongly supported as paraphyletic. We suggest that three subspecies of Chimarrogale himalayica should be reconsidered as distinct species. However, these suggestions must be considered with caution because only a single locus of a mtDNA gene was used. Four additional putative species, possibly distributed in central southwestern China and Taiwan, are currently undescribed; therefore, comprehensive morphological analyses are warranted to test their taxonomic statuses. The estimated molecular divergence times indicated that rapid speciation occurred during the early Pliocene, and current distribution patterns may have been affected by global cooling during the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Reconstruction of the ancestral distribution and species distribution modeling for Asiatic water shrews revealed a low-latitude migration route

Penetration electric field can be very strong during magnetic storms. However, the variation of penetration electric field with local time (LT) has not been well understood. The Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite measures the plasma drift/electric field over all local times within ~100 min. In this paper, we present the first nearly simultaneous observations of the dependence of penetration electric field on local time. The meridional ion drift measured by C/NOFS during the main phase of five magnetic storms in 2012 is analyzed. The storm time ion drift shows a large enhancement around 1900 LT, a relatively small enhancement during daytime, and a deep decrease in the postmidnight sector with a peak around 0500 LT. The observed storm time variation of the meridional ion drift with local time represents the variation of the penetration electric field. The averaged ion drifts are in remarkable agreement with recent simulations.

Circumferential depressions enclosing mesas and plateaus in the northern Kasei Valles and in the Tartarus Colles regions of Mars are interpreted as indicators of the former extent of lobate debris aprons, thought to be mixtures of ice and elastic particles. These former lobate debris aprons existed about 1 Ga ago and were embayed by lavas or other flow deposits. After the lobate debris aprons had been removed by sublimation and deflation, topographic depressions with a depth of 50 m and a width of several kilometers were left behind between the mesa or plateau scarp and the solidified flow materials. These depressions or moats are located equatorward of ??30?? at significantly lower latitudes than generally observed for occurrences of modem, intact lobate debris aprons. This observation provides evidence that the paleoclimate at that time was different than today, probably due to a higher averaged obliquity of the planet's rotational axis. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

The CHAMP magnetic data indicate that small amplitude (1-5 nT) magnetic fluctuations with period around a few tens of seconds along the orbit exist globally and almost all the time. Characteristics of the magnetic fluctuations including seasonal dependence having geographical characteristics strongly suggest that they are the small-scale spatial structure of field-aligned currents with lower atmospheric origin (Nakanishi et al., 2014). We suppose that gravity waves generated by lower atmospheric disturbances propagate to the ionosphere and drive the E-layer dynamo. The currents in the ionosphere divert along the magnetic field into the other hemisphere and make a closed circuit. To confirm the above scenario and to find the scale of the current circuit in longitudinal direction, we use the magnetic data observed by the SWARM satellites. By analysis of the magnetic data observed by the SWARM satellites, the magnetic fluctuations as recorded earlier by CHAMP are confirmed to have the same characteristics i.e., the magnetic fluctuation is perpendicular to the geomagnetic field; the amplitude on the dayside is much larger than that on the nightside; towards the dip equator the period tends to get longer. Because the three Swarm satellites have various spatial relations in 3-D space between their orbits, we could easily confirm that the objective magnetic fluctuations are not temporal but spatial structures. The longitudinal scale seems to be of the order of 100 km. We shall show the above results and some other characteristics of the current circuit and discuss whether or not our suggested model fits the observed characteristics.

Ionospheric signatures from a variety of seismic phenomena (e.g. earthquakes, volcanoes, nuclear tests, mining blasts) have been documented by a number of observers. These phenomena have been shown to generate Rayleigh waves, acoustic waves, and gravity waves radiating outward from sources with various levels of localization. The propagation of these waves can be observed in corresponding thin-shell ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) observations derived from ground-based GNSS networks. GNSS station network density varies; Japan GEONET density is high with average spacing of 25 km; USGS density is lower with large variability depending on the geographic location. In this effort we attempt to localize underlying seismic sources from GNSS TECobservations. We assume isotropic propagation speeds with observations that are periodic temporally but only sparsely sampled spatially, and apply optimization methods to the resulting model to find the best candidates for source location. We apply this to both Japan GEONET and USGS data, and compare the resulting locations and levels of TEC disturbance to known event locations and magnitudes.

An examination of the benefits of thermionic-energy-conversion (TEC)-topped power plants and methods of increasing conversion efficiency are discussed. Reductions in the cost of TEC modules yield direct decreases in the cost of electricity (COE) from TEC-topped central station power plants. Simplified COE, overall-efficiency charts presented illustrate this trend. Additional capital-cost diminution results from designing more compact furnaces with considerably increased heat transfer rates allowable and desirable for high temperature TEC and heat pipes. Such improvements can evolve of the protection from hot corrosion and slag as well as the thermal expansion compatibilities offered by silicon-carbide clads on TEC-heating surfaces. Greater efficiencies and far fewer modules are possible with high-temperature, high-power-density TEC: This decreases capital and fuel costs much more and substantially increases electric power outputs for fixed fuel inputs. In addition to more electricity, less pollution, and lower costs, TEC topping used directly in coal-combustion products contributes balance-of-payment gains.

The authors have gathered TEC data from a wide range of latitudes and longitudes for a complete range of solar activity. This data was used to evaluate the performance of six ionospheric models as predictors of Total Electron Content (TFC). The TEC parameter is important in correcting modern DOD space systems, which propagate radio signals from the earth to satellites, for the time delay effects of the ionosphere. The TEC data were obtained from polarimeter receivers located in North America, the Pacific, and the East Coast of Asia. The ionospheric models evaluated are: (1) the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI); (2) the Bent model; (3) the Ionospheric Conductivity and Electron Density (ICED) model; (4) the Penn State model; (5) the Fully Analytic Ionospheric Model (FAIM, a modification of the Chiu model); and (6) the Damen-Hartranft model. They will present extensive comparisons between monthly mean TEC at all local times and model TEC obtained by integrating electron density profiles produced by the six models. These comparisons demonstrate that even thought most of the models do very well at representing f0F2, none of them do very well with TEC, probably because of inaccurate representation of the topside scale height. They suggest that one approach to obtaining better representations of TEC is the use of f0E2 from coefficients coupled with a new slab thickness developed at Boston University.

This paper presents an accuracy assessment of IWV data obtained from one year of GPS measurements in Peninsular Malaysia and the correlation between this GPS-derived IWV and radiosonde-derived IWV. Four GPS stations in close proximity to existing radiosonde stations are assessed; the root mean square errors of the GPS-derived IWVs are 3.447 kg/m2, 3.786 kg/m2, 4.122 kg/m2 and 4.253 kg/m2 and their linear correlation coefficients are 0.877, 0.797, 0.851 and 0.849, respectively. Such strong correlations indicate that GPS data has the potential to be used for water vapor observation in Peninsular Malaysia for locations with few weather stations.

Descriptions of eleven aurorae observed in the Canary Islands during the period 1770 - 2010 have been found in different documents. Most of them are coincident with periods of strong solar activity, with the geomagnetic latitude playing a minor role. Coronal mass ejections are the most probable solar source of these low-latitude events. The absence of low-latitude aurorae is verified in our sample during the Dalton Minimum and the first half of the twentieth century.

In this study we have used a VHF and GPS-SCINDA receiver located at Nairobi (36.8°E, 1.3°S, dip -24.1°) in Kenya to investigate the climatology of ionospheric L-band scintillation occurrences for the period 2009 to 2012; and seasonal variation of the zonal plasma drift irregularities derived from a VHF receiver for the period 2011. The annual and diurnal variations of L-band scintillation indicate occurrence at post sunset hours and peaks in the equinoctial months. However VHF scintillation occurs at all seasons around the year and is characterized by longer duration of activity and a slow fading that continues till early morning hours unlike in the L-band where they cease after midnight hours. A directional analysis has shown that the spatial distribution of scintillation events is mainly on the Southern and Western part of the sky over Nairobi station closer to the edges of the crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly. The distribution of zonal drift velocities of the VHF related scintillation structures indicates that they move at velocities in the range of 20-160 m/s and their dimension in the East-West direction is in the range of 100-00 km. The December solstice is associated with the largest plasma bubbles in the range of 600-900 km. The most significant observation from this study is the occurrence of post-midnight scintillation without pre-midnight scintillations during magnetically quiet periods. The mechanism leading to the formation of the plasma density irregularity causing scintillation is believed to be via the Rayleigh Tailor Instability; it is however not clear whether we can also attribute the post-midnight plasma bubbles during magnetic quiet times to the same mechanism. From our observations in this study, we suggest that a more likely cause of the east ward zonal electric fields at post-midnight hours is the coupling of the ionosphere with the lower atmosphere during nighttime. This however needs a further investigation based on relevant